Varanasi court rejects plea to transfer 1991 Gyanvapi case

Varanasi: A district court here has dismissed a plea seeking the transfer of the original 1991 Gyanvapi suit from the court of the civil judge to another court.

Advocate Vijay Shankar Rastogi, who is a party to the case, said District Judge Jay Prakash Tiwari rejected the transfer application on Monday, stating that the petitioners were not parties to the original suit and hence had no legal standing to seek such a transfer.

The plea was filed by Manikuntala Tiwari, Neelima Mishra and Renu Pandey. They are the daughters of late Harihar Pandey, one of the litigants who filed the original suit.

According to Rastogi, the plea submitted that they were not being given adequate time to present their side before the civil judge (senior division) fast track where the original suit is pending since 1991 and sought the case to be transferred to another court.

Rastogi argued that the three sisters were not listed as parties in the 1991 suit and therefore did not have the locus standi to file a transfer application.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the district judge rejected the application, deeming it non-maintainable.

The original 1991 suit pertains to the dispute over the Gyanvapi mosque complex adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.