Gyanvapi-Vyas Tehkhana Row | 'Refrain From Speaking To Media As Case Is Subjudice': Allahabad HC To Suit Parties, Adjourns Hearing Till Tomorrow

The Allahabad High Court today directed the parties to suit concerning the Gyanvapi Mosque-Vyas Cellar/Tehkhana dispute to avoid making public statements or speaking to the media about the case till the matter is sub-judice. With this, the Court also adjourned the hearing in the matter till tomorrow.

"Mere yeh request hai, aap log TVbaazi ya public mein statements mat dijiye jab tak ki matter decide nahin ho raha hia. Sub-judice matter ke baare mein aise discussion karna uchit nahin," a bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agrawal remarked orally while hearing a plea filed by the Gyanvapi Mosque committee challenging 31st January order of the Varanasi Court permitting Hindu parties to perform puja in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque (Vyas Ji ka Tehkhana).

Appearing for the Mosque committee, Senior Counsel SFA Naqvi submitted before the Court that by passing its order dated January 31, the then Varanasi District Judge virtually allowed the final relief of the plaintiff (seeking worshipping rights).

He also called into question the promptness and urgency shown by the District Magistrate in executing the order of the District Judge by swiftly clearing the area and facilitating arrangements for Puja rituals within the Tehkhana.

"How was the order (of 31st January) communicated to the DM? Even though he had possession, there is no mention of how the order was supplied to him. My lord may summon the records and see if any order was issued to DM based on which he acted in 7-8 hours," he submitted.

It was further contended that no puja was ever performed by any member of the Vyas at the Tehkhana family before 1993 and that in the Suit, there is no whisper of the fact that they are in possession of a cellar etc and hence, when one person's ancestor has relinquished the right earlier, how can now a suit be filed in 2023, he submitted.

To this, when the single judge asked the Senior Counsel as to how will he substantiate his argument that they were in possession of the cellar, Senior Counsel Naaqvi responded by saying that barricading of the premises prevented either side from taking its possession but the southern cellar remained a part of the mosque.

On the other hand, appearing for the original plaintiff, Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain primarily argued that the Mosque committee had not challenged the 17th January order of the Varanasi Court, wherein the District Magistrate was appointed as a receiver of the property.

Further, when the Court posed a query to Jain as to how, when the original application - containing prayers for the appointment of receiver and allowing the Vyas family to worship the deities inside Vyas Tehkhana- was disposed of on January 17th, the District Court could have passed an order allowing for the performance of worship rituals inside the Tehkhana on January 31st, Jain submitted that the impugned order was passed on 31st January allowing for worshipping (second prayer of the application) by exercising the powers under Section 151 CPC.

"On 30th Jan, I argued that my prayer 2 had not been decided by the Court, to which, they (mosque committee) didn't object. There was no need for me to move any other application. When the first prayer was granted (appointment of a receiver), it was pointed to the court that so far as the second prayer is concerned, no order had been passed and then, the order of 31st January was passed," Jain submitted.

During the court proceedings, Jain also asserted before the Court that his client had possession of the cellar as they had the keys.

It may be noted that the Varanasi District Judge on January 31 directed the District Administration to make appropriate arrangements within 7 days for Hindus to conduct worshipping rituals inside one of the sealed cellars/basement/tehkhana (vyas ji ka tehkhana) inside the existing Gyanvapi mosque complex. Worship at this spot was stopped in the year 1993.