Varanasi court to hear plea against Hindu prayers in Gyanvapi cellar today

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh): A Varanasi court on Thursday fixed February 28 as the date for hearing the Gyanvapi Masjid committee's plea against the recently allowed puja in a cellar of the mosque, the Hindu side counsel said.

The Varanasi district court had on January 31 ruled that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.

The mosque committee moved the court challenging the verdict.

Advocate M M Yadav said Additional District Judge Anil Kumar has fixed February 28 for the hearing.

The mosque committee has also moved a petition in the Allahabad High Court against the district court verdict.

Earlier in the day in the Allahabad High Court, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agrawal heard the appeal filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid committee, which looks after the affairs of the mosque adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, and reserved its order, the committee's lawyer S F A Naqvi said.