Prayers resumed at Gyanvapi basement following district court order last month
Lucknow:
The Mulayam Singh government’s 1993 move to stop Hindu prayers in a basement of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque was “illegal”, the Allahabad High Court said today, dismissing a plea challenging a district court order that imposed a 30-year jail term. Later, prayers were allowed to resume.
This basement, known as Vyas Ji Ka Tahkhana, was sealed after the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. Soon after the demolition, then Chief Minister Kalyan Singh resigned and his government was later dismissed, paving the way for President’s rule. Next year, in the assembly elections, a government led by Mulayam Singh Yadav was formed. The state government then cited law and order concerns and the basement temple was sealed.
The district court’s order last month, allowing resumption of Hindu prayers in the basement, had come on a petition by Shailendra Pathak Vyas. Mr Vyas then submitted that his family used to pray in the basement since the British era.
“The worship and rituals performed by the Vyas family in the basement till 1993 were stopped by the illegal action of the State without any written order,” the high court’s judgment today said.
“Article 25 of the Constitution of India grants freedom of religion. The Vyas family who continued religious worship and rituals in the basement could not be denied entry by verbal order. The civil right guaranteed under Article 25 could not be arbitrarily The action cannot be taken away from the state,” the order added.
The order said Shailendra Pathak Vyas has stated that the cellar has been in the possession of his family since 1551 and he has submitted documents to show how it was passed down for generations.
The court said that the basement of Vyas ji was shown in the map of 1936 filed by the then state government. The court also said that the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Management Committee, which had challenged the district court order, had failed to establish prima facie possession of the basement.
“The failure of the Appellant to establish prima facie possession of the disputed property, and the Plaintiff succeeding in making a strong prima facie case by negating the stand of the Appellant, gives rise to an undisputed position that preventing the performance of pujas and rituals by the devotees in the basement Would be against their interest,” the court said.
Justice Rohit Ranjan Aggarwal said in the order, “Prima facie I find that the act of the state government in preventing the Vyas family from performing religious worship and rituals and by the devotees since the year 1993 was consistently wrong.”
The court also said that an attempt was made to tarnish the image of the lower court “on the grounds that the officer concerned had passed the order on the last day of work”. It said the district court had already asked the administration to take over control in an order dated January 17, 2024, and the January 31 order was only to correct an incidental lapse.
“After considering the overall submissions made by the respective counsel for the parties and analyzing the material on record, I find that the Appellant has made out no case for interfering with the orders dated 17.01.2024 and 31.01.2024 of appointment of the District Magistrate. “Haven’t made it.” Varanasi was appointed as the receiver and arrangements were made to conduct pujas and rituals in the Vyas Tahkhana (cellar) by the priest under his supervision,” the court said, noting that prayers in the basement began on February 1.
