Supreme Court junks petition against transfer of Gyanvapi case

New Delhi, November 3

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s plea challenging the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice’s decision to withdraw the Gyanvapi case from a single-judge Bench that was hearing it since 2021.

The single-judge Bench was hearing the plea of Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC), which manages the affairs of the Gyanvapi mosque, challenging the maintainability of a lawsuit for restoration of a temple at the mosque site in Varanasi.

“Dismissed,” a Bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said after hearing the submissions of senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who represented the mosque committee.

“We should not interfere with the order of the Chief Justice of the high court…In high courts, it is a very standard practice. This must lie in the realm of the Chief Justice of the high court,” the Bench said.

The AIMC also challenged the withdrawal of the case from the single-judge Bench of Justice Prakash Padia. The case has now been assigned to a Bench headed by Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker of the high court through an administrative decision.