The Allahabad High Court will deliver it’s judgement on December 19 on the petition challenging a 1991 civil suit filed by Hindu worshippers seeking the right to worship in the Gyanvapi mosque, among other pleas.
Pending before a Varanasi court, the 1991 suit sought to restore an ancient temple at the disputed site currently occupied by the Gyanvapi mosque, with the petitioners contending that the mosque was a part of the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
The suit was contested by the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee (which managed the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi) and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board on the grounds that it was prohibited by the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions) Act of 1991.
They said the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991 prohibited the conversion of a religious structure from its nature as it stood on the date of independence.
The Supreme Court had, in October 2023, refused to interfere with the verdict delivered by Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker (now retired), transferring the cases concerning the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi Mosque dispute to his Bench from the Bench of another judge.
The three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud justified Chief Justice Diwaker’s order to transfer cases on the grounds that the previous judge (Justice Prakash Padia) had not delivered the verdict despite reserving it in 2021 and holding 75 hearings.