In a significant development, a Varanasi district court has recently turned down a plea seeking the transfer of the original 1991 Gyanvapi mosque case to a different court.
The request, filed by the daughters of one of the initial litigants, was declared legally unsustainable.
Petition Filed By Daughters Of Original Litigant
The application was submitted by Manikuntala Tiwari, Neelima Mishra, and Renu Pandey — daughters of the late Harihar Pandey, one of the original petitioners in the decades-old case concerning the Gyanvapi mosque complex near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
The petitioners alleged that they were not receiving sufficient opportunity to present their case in the ongoing proceedings before the civil judge (senior division), fast track, and asked for the matter to be heard in another court.
Court Cites Lack Of Legal Standing
District Judge Jay Prakash Tiwari rejected the plea on the grounds that the three women were not formal parties to the original 1991 suit. As a result, the court held that they lacked the legal authority — or locus standi — to request a transfer.
“District Judge Jay Prakash Tiwari rejected the transfer application… stating that the petitioners were not parties to the original suit and hence had no legal standing to seek such a transfer,” said advocate Vijay Shankar Rastogi, who is directly involved in the case.
Advocate Argues Petitioners Have No Role In Ongoing Case
According to Rastogi, the court’s decision is consistent with legal procedure, as the three women were never included as litigants in the original case. “The plea submitted that they were not being given adequate time to present their side before the civil judge… and sought the case to be transferred to another court,” he said, but emphasized that such a plea holds no ground if filed by individuals not formally involved in the case.
Application Ruled Non-Maintainable
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court dismissed the plea, declaring it “non-maintainable.” The decision effectively reinforces that only recognized parties to the original litigation can intervene in procedural matters, such as court transfers.
Background
The 1991 Gyanvapi case concerns a long-standing legal and religious dispute over the Gyanvapi mosque premises, which are located next to the revered Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi. The matter has been under legal review for over three decades and remains one of the most sensitive religious issues in the country.
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