SC To Review Gyanvapi Mosque Committee’s Plea On Temple Restoration Against Allahabad HC

The Supreme Court has greenlit to hear the plea of the Gyanvapi mosque committee challenging an Allahabad High Court ruling on the viability of lawsuits aiming to “restore” a temple. This plea has been combined with other ongoing disputes for a comprehensive review, as stated by a bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud along with justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

The Allahabad High Court had dismissed a set of petitions from the Muslim side, disputing the legitimacy of the civil suit. The court’s decision asserted that a civil suit seeking the temple’s restoration, currently pending in a Varanasi court, is permissible. The High Court emphasized that only the court can determine the “religious character” of a contested place.

The lawsuit aims to restore a temple at the location of the Gyanvapi mosque, with the Hindu claim suggesting that the mosque was constructed upon the remains of a temple, constituting an integral part of the religious structure.

Entities such as the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, managing the Gyanvapi mosque, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, and other concerned parties argued against the suit’s viability. They contended that the suit is barred under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This Act prohibits altering the religious character of holy sites as it existed on India’s independence day, with the exception of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.

The Allahabad High Court, however, determined that the suit filed in the district court is not restricted by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Act forbids the “conversion” of the “religious character” of a place from what it was on August 15, 1947.

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