The Allahabad High Court on Monday adjourned the hearing till November 8 on a petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) which has challenged the maintainability of a suit seeking restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque exists in Varanasi.
When the case was taken up, the court was told by the AIMC that it had filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court against the order of the chief justice of the high court to withdraw the case from a single-judge bench that had been hearing the matter since 2021.
The apex court has fixed November 6 for hearing the matter, Chief Justice Pritinkar Diwakar was informed after which he adjourned the hearing on the AIMC’s plea till November 8.
The AIMC has challenged the maintainability of a suit filed before a Varanasi court in which the plaintiff had sought restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque exists.
The petition also challenges a Varanasi court direction to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi mosque. The order was passed on April 8, 2021.
The Chief Justice while giving reasons for the order dated September 18, 2023, which has been challenged before the Supreme Court, stated that the decision was taken on the administrative side in the “interest of judicial propriety, judicial discipline, and transparency in the listing of cases”.
