SC denies stay order for puja in cellar of Gyanvapi mosque complex

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to halt the Allahabad High Court's ruling, which upheld a lower court's decision permitting Hindu prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.

The court has sent a notice regarding a plea filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, contesting the high court's decision to dismiss its appeal against the trial court's order.

In February, the high court rejected the committee's appeal against the district court's January 31 ruling, which permitted Hindus to conduct prayers in the cellar.

The court deemed the state government's decision in 1993 to prohibit prayers in the southern cellar, near the Kashi Vishwanath temple, as "illegal" while dismissing the plea.

On January 31, the Varanasi district court permitted a priest to conduct puja in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, six days after providing litigants with copies of an Archaeological Survey of India report confirming the existence of a Hindu temple before the mosque's construction.