A local court in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi on Monday dismissed a plea questioning the maintainability of a petition filed by five Hindu women seeking worshipping rights of Hindu deities whose idols are located in the Gyanvapi mosque compound.
Also, READ: Sonali Phogat death case: Home Ministry recommends CBI probe
Delivering the verdict in the Gyanvapi-Shrinagar Gauri dispute case, District Judge AK Vishvesh ordered that the plea, seeking the right to worship in the temple, is maintainable. The judge said that the court will continue to hear the petition and posted the matter to further hearing on September 22.
The following are some of the important quotes that District Judge AK Vishvesh ordered:
- In this case, all the plaintiffs want is the right to worship Maa Shringaar Gauri and other visible and invisible deities as they did continuously up until 1993 and as they are allowed to do once a year under the ordinance of the state of Uttar Pradesh.
- The plaintiffs' lawsuit focuses on the right to worship as a civil right, a fundamental right, as well as a customary and religious right.
- This court does have jurisdiction over the underlying dispute. Therefore, I have concluded that the bar under Section 85 of the Waqf Act does not apply in this instance since the plaintiffs are not Muslims.
- In their pleadings, the plaintiffs claim that they have worshipped Maa Sringaar Gauri, Lord Hanuman, and Lord Ganesh at the disputed site during a long period of time up to 1993.
- As per the Uttar Pradesh Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983, the plaintiffs' suit is barred. Based on my evaluation, defendant no.4 failed to prove the plaintiffs' suit is barred by Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983.
(With inputs from PTI)
.
