[Gyanvapi-Kashi Title Dispute] Allahabad HC To Pronounce Verdict On Plea Challenging Hindu Worshippers' 1991 Suit On Dec 19

In the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi land title dispute cases, the Allahabad High Court will on December 19 pronounce its verdict on a batch of petitions including a plea challenging a 1991 civil suit filed by Hindu worshippers seeking the right to worship in the Gyanvapi mosque.

The suit, pending before a Varanasi court, seeks to restore an ancient temple at the disputed site currently occupied by the Gyanvapi mosque, with the petitioners contending that the mosque is a part of the temple.

Contesting the suit, it has been the primary contention of the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee (which manages the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi) and UP Sunni Central Waqf Board that the suit prohibited by the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions) Act of 1991.

Last month, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the order passed 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.

For the uninitiated, on August 11, the then Chief Justice (Justice Diwaker) passed an order on the administrative side withdrawing the Gyanvapi title dispute cases from the bench of Justice Prakash Padia "in the interest of judicial propriety and judicial discipline as well as the transparency in the listing of cases". Later, the matters were assigned to the bench of Chief Justice.

The reason behind such a decision was disclosed in the Chief Justice's order dated August 28, wherein it was reasoned that non-observance of the procedure in listing the cases, passing of successive orders for reserving the judgment and again listing the cases before the Judge (Justice Prakash Padia) for hearing through he no longer had the jurisdiction as per the master of the roster, had led to the withdrawal of the cases.

In his 12-page order, the then Chief Justice had stated that essentially his order on the administrative side emanated from a complaint which was made before him on July 27, 2023, by a counsel of one of the parties to the proceedings, highlighting the fact that hearing in the dispute cases was proceeding in derogation of the procedure laid down in law for listing of the cases as per the rules.

To understand the chronology of the circumstances which led to the withdrawal of cases from the single Judge (Justice Prakash Padia), please refer to this report: Gyanvapi-Kashi Title Dispute | 'Procedural Aberration, Jurisdictional Impropriety': Allahabad HC CJ Specifies Reasons For Withdrawing Cases From Single-Judge