Supreme Court Orders Status Quo on Hindu Prayers at Gyanvapi Mosque, Varanasi

The Supreme Court, on Monday, declined to halt Hindu prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. However, it issued a directive for maintaining the status quo regarding religious observances by Hindus within the mosque premises.

Citing LiveLaw, the bench stated, “Considering that the Muslim community is offering Namaz without hindrance after the orders dated Jan 17 and Jan 31, and Hindu pooja performed by a priest is limited to the area of tehkhana, it is deemed appropriate to uphold the status quo, allowing both communities to worship under these conditions.”

Furthermore, the bench emphasized, “Either party shall not alter the existing status quo without prior approval from this Court.”

The Supreme Court has scheduled the hearing of the Gyanvapi mosque committee’s plea against the authorization of Hindu puja in the mosque’s southern cellar for final disposal in July.

Earlier, the Allahabad High Court had dismissed the mosque committee’s plea challenging the Varanasi district court’s January 31 order permitting Hindus to offer prayers in the cellar. The high court declared the Uttar Pradesh government’s 1993 decision to cease worship rituals inside the “Vyas Tehkhana” illegal.

The court directed that worship rituals in the “Vyas Tehkhana,” adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, will continue. This area had been the subject of dispute, with claims of a Hindu temple having existed there prior to the mosque’s construction during Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s reign, as suggested by an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey.

Under the January 31 ruling, a Hindu priest, nominated by the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust and petitioner Shailendra Kumar Pathak, now conducts prayers in the southern cellar, where Pathak’s maternal grandfather, Somnath Vyas, also performed prayers until December 1993.

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