Gyanvapi case: Hindu side files caveat in Supreme Court

Caveat filed in SC against Vyas Tekhana order

The Hindu side has filed a plea in the Supreme Court that it be heard before taking a decision on a  likely plea to be filed against the recent Allahabad High Court order allowing puja to be continued in a cellar in a restricted area of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.

The caveat was filed in the Supreme Court on February 27 by Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas, who had moved a trial court in Varanasi for permission to offer prayers in the southern cellar, the Vyas Tehkhana, of the Gyanvapi mosque.

The Masjid Intezamia Committee of Gyanvapi mosque, the main petitioner from the Muslim side, has said that it will challenge the high court order.

Also read: Gyanvapi case: Key facts and history of the Varanasi mosque controversy

What is the case about?

The Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, which was built by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb in the 17th century,  has four “tehkhanas” or cellars.  One of them is still in the possession of the Vyas family which used to live there.

According to Vyas, his family had been conducting prayers and other rituals inside the cellar for more than 200 years but the practice was stopped in December 1993. The place was known as “Vyasji ki gaddi” since the family had been provided space inside the tehkhana.

He petitioned a Varanasi court in 2023 seeking permission to perform puja in the cellar. On January 31, the court ruled that a priest could offer prayers and the prayers would be conducted  at regular intervals — by a "pujari" nominated by the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust and the petitioner.

The mosque committee filed an appeal against this order in the Allahabad High Court. A bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal on February 26 dismissed the plea and held that the Uttar Pradesh government's order restricting puja in the cellar was illegal.