Setback to Muslim side as SC refuses to halt puja in Gyanvapi mosque cellar 

The Supreme Court, on Monday, April 1, refused the Muslim side’s petition to stop the pooja being held in the vyas tehkhana, the southern part of the Gyanvapi mosque. It maintained a status quo thereby stating no change will happen until further legal proceedings.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee against the decision of the Allahabad High Court upholding a Varanasi court’s order allowing Hindu parties to perform puja in the vyas tehkhana.

The bench led by CJI DY Chandchrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra observed, “Bearing in mind the fact that the Namaz is offered by the Muslim community unhindered after the orders dated January 17 and January 31 and the offering of pooja by Hindu priest is confined to the area of tehkhana, it is appropriate to maintain status-quo so as to enable both the communities to offer worships in the above terms,”