Hindus to Continue Prayer in Gyanvapi Cellar, Allahabad High Court Rejects Petition

New Delhi: A petition challenging the Varanasi district court’s decision to allow Hindu prayers in a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court on Monday.

A month back, the Varanasi district court ruled that a priest can offer prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque. The court delivered this order on a petition filed by Shailendra Kumar Pathak, who said his maternal grandfather Somnath Vyas offered prayers in the cellar till December 1993.

The mosque has four ‘tehkhanas’ (cellars) in the basement, and one of them is still with the Vyas family.

In his petition, Pathak requested the court to allow a hereditary priest to enter the tehkhana and resume pooja.

The mosque committee refuted Pathak’s claims saying there were no idols in the cellar, so there was no question of prayers being offered there till 1993.

The mosque committee approached the Allahabad High Court when the Supreme Court refused to hear its plea against the Varanasi district court order and asking it to approach the high court.

After hearing both the parties, the Allahabad High Court reserved its order on February 15.