Varanasi: The Varanasi district court on Wednesday fixed March 19 for hearing a plea seeking to stop the entry to the terrace of “Vyas Tehkhana” located in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi complex.
The plea filed by the Hindu side said the cellar’s terrace is very old and weak and there is a possibility of an accident when Muslims offer namaz on it.
Hindu side’s counsel Madan Mohan Yadav said that in-charge District Judge Anil Kumar has fixed March 19 for hearing the petition which also seeks repair of the cellar’s pillars.
The fresh plea was filed days after the Allahabad High Court said Hindu prayers will continue in the “Vyas Tehkhana” of the Gyanvapi mosque, while dismissing the mosque committee’s plea that had challenged the district court’s order to this effect.
Yadav said that Muslims taking a walk and offering namaz on the cellar’s terrace is not good for the old structure which should be repaired.
On January 31, the district court ruled that a Hindu priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the mosque.
The prayers are now being conducted by a Hindu priest nominated by the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust and the petitioner, who has claimed that his grandfather offered puja in the cellar till December 1993.
