Case : Laxmi Devi vs. State of Uttar Pradesh

Update: March 2024

The Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi city is at the centre of a dispute in court.

While Muslims performed namaaz in the mosque and the surrounding courtyard, the Supreme Court of India struck a balance by permitting a selected Hindu priest to continue worshipping inside the Gyanvapi grounds’ cellar, or tehkhana. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud‘s three-judge panel determined that maintaining the status quo was “appropriate” in order to “allow both communities to offer religious worship.” In this manner, namaaz is offered on the mosque’s grounds. They protect the tehkhana. Chief Justice Chandrachud said verbally that the agreement would be upheld until the trial. The court mandated that neither of the disputing parties would alter the status quo.

The Hindu plaintiffs, who are led by veteran attorney Shyam Divan, assert that since Satyug, the whole space of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi has been a temple dedicated to Swayambhu Lord Shiva, referred to here as Adi Vishweshwar. They claimed that the Farman of Emperor Aurangzeb in the year 1669 destroyed the temple, which had previously been located on the Gyanvapi property.

The complaint that the Hindus filed in a Varanasi court, according to senior counsel Huzefa Ahmadi for the management of Anjuman Intazamia Masjid, was only a ploy to invade the mosque’s property. Following the suit by the Hindus, who first sought a judicial declaration of their right to worship within the mosque premises, and then the “discovery” of a Shivling, the mosque managers have been engaged in a protracted legal battle.

However, the Muslim side asserted that the building was a fountain. The courts had permitted a “scientific survey“ and carbon dating of the building. The most recent events include two consecutive rulings by the Varanasi court permitting Hindu religious ceremonies to take place in the mosque’s cellar, which is accessible from the south side of the building. The Bench discovered that while Muslims may enter the mosque for namaaz from the northern side, the cellar could only be accessed from the southern side. Following the directives of January 17 and January 31, Muslims are currently offering namaaz without any restrictions. The Hindu priest’s puja offering is limited to the cellar area.

The court clarified that it would be appropriate to preserve the status quo in order to allow both populations to practice their respective religions. The court emphasized that Hindus’ religious worship must be conducted in strict accordance with the guidelines in the January 31, 2024 decision and be under the Receiver’s safe custody as stipulated in the January 17, 2024 order.