Fresh plea in Varanasi court seeking to stop walking on top of Gyanvapi's cellar

Fresh plea in Varanasi court seeking to stop walking on top of Gyanvapi’s cellar

Varanasi, Feb 28 (PTI) The Varanasi district court on Wednesday fixed March 19 for hearing a plea seeking to stop Muslim devotees walking on top of Gyanvapi mosque’s southern cellar, where the court recently allowed Hindu prayers.

The plea filed by the Hindu side said the cellar’s roof is very old and weak. It also said the pillars of this basement, also known as “Vyas Tehkhana”, needed repair.

Hindu side’s counsel Madan Mohan Yadav said that in-charge District Judge Anil Kumar has fixed March 19 for hearing the petition which also seeks repair of the cellar’s pillars.

The fresh plea was filed days after the Allahabad High Court said Hindu prayers will continue in the “Vyas Tehkhana” of the Gyanvapi mosque, while dismissing the mosque committee’s plea that had challenged the district court’s order to this effect.

Yadav said that Muslim devotees walking or offering namaz on top of the cellar is not good for the old structure which should be repaired.

On January 31, the district court ruled that a Hindu priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the mosque.

The prayers are now being conducted by a Hindu priest nominated by the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust and the petitioner, who has claimed that his grandfather offered puja in the cellar till December 1993.