Under Kashi Vishwanath Act, devotees can file suit for right to worship: Hindu side in HC

Prayagraj: In a civil revision petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM) in the suit of five Hindu women seeking regular worship of Shringar Gauri and other deities in Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque compound, the counsel for the Hindu side on Wednesday pleaded that under the Kashi Vishwanath Act, even devotees can file suit for their right to worship. He said that there is no bar for the devotees from filing suit if the Kashi Vishwanath Board, which manages the temple, does not exercise its rights and file any suit in this regard.
As per the date fixed, the hearing of the case was resumed on Wednesday. However, after a brief hearing, Justice JJ Munir directed to put up on December 15 the further hearing in the AIM’s civil revision petition that has challenged a Varanasi court order turning down its objections to the maintainability of the suit filed by the five Hindu women in August last through which they had sought permission to regularly worship Shringar Gauri and other deities in Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque compound.
Earlier, the petitioner, AIM, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, had opposed the claim of the Hindu side on the plea that the suit before the court below is barred under the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which provides that no suit can be filed seeking conversion of any religious place as existed on August 15, 1947.
The district judge Varanasi had on September 12 this year dismissed the plea of AIM filed under Order 7 Rule 11 of Civil Procedure Code (CPC), challenging the maintainability of the suit filed by the five Hindu plaintiffs.
While rejecting the AIM’s plea, district judge Varanasi had observed that the suit of the plaintiffs (five Hindu women) is not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, The Waqf Act 1995, and the UP Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983 as was being claimed by the AIM.
The AIM filed the present civil revision petition before the high court, challenging the September 12 order on the ground that the suit before the court below is barred under the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which provides that no suit can be filed seeking conversion of any religious place as existed on August 15, 1947. The Places of Worship Act, 1991 bars change in the character of religious places after independence, even by means of court proceedings.