Gyanvapi dispute: SC dismisses plea of mosque committee against transfer of case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the order passed by the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, Justice Pritinker Diwaker, transferring the case relating to the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi Mosque dispute to another bench from a single-judge bench.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra dismissed an appeal filed by Anjuman Intezemia Masjid, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, challenging the administrative decision of the high court chief justice's transfer order.

The Chief Justice of the High Court, in his administrative decision, withdrew the Gyanvapi case from a single-judge bench, which has been hearing it since 2021.

The single-judge was hearing the plea of the Masjid Committee challenging the maintainability of the suits filed by some Hindu worshippers seeking the right of worship in the Gyanvapi mosque which is barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991.

The CJI bench perused the reasons for the transfer of the case and observed that it did not want to read it in open court.

"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 observed.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the mosque committee, told the apex court that Justice Prakash Padia had completed the hearing in the matter and reserved the judgment, however, the Chief Justice withdrew the case from the judge, citing the reason that the judge could not have retained the matter despite the roster change.