Court rejects plea to change cloth covering lock of sealed Gyanvapi wuzukhana

The Varanasi district court on Monday rejected a plea seeking the replacement of a piece of cloth tied over the sealed lock of the wuzukhana inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

The counsel for the Hindu side to a dispute involving the mosque, Madan Mohan Yadav, said District Judge Sanjeev Shukla dismissed the application related to the changing of the cloth covering the lock of the sealed wuzukhana (ablution area). Yadav said the judge observed that since the matter is under consideration before the Supreme Court, the district court does not have the jurisdiction to pass any order on the issue.

A hearing is underway in the apex court on the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. Yadav said in December last year, the Supreme Court had directed the subordinate courts that, as long as the matter is under consideration before it, no new cases should be admitted nor should any order be passed that could affect the proceedings in the apex court.  The wuzukhana area of the Gyanvapi mosque was sealed on May 16-17, 2022, following a court-ordered survey conducted by the Varanasi civil judge in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directions. It is said that the condition of the cloth tied over the lock has deteriorated over time.

To prevent any untoward incident, the Hindu side filed a petition on August 8 seeking permission to replace it.  The Gyanvapi complex, located adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, has been at the centre of a long-running legal dispute between Hindu and Muslim parties over claims of the existence of a temple structure beneath the mosque.