A Varanasi Court on Friday deferred to next week the hearing on a petition seeking the handover of the keys to a basement in the Gyanvapi mosque to the Varanasi district magistrate. The court has scheduled the matter for a hearing on 29 November, 2023.
According to advocate Madan Mohan Yadav, no proceedings took place in the court out of respect for a recently deceased senior advocate. In his plea, Yadav asserted that in 1993, authorities had barricaded and locked the basement, known as “Vyas Ji ka Tehkhana.”
Before its closure, the basement was utilized for worship by Somnath Vyas, a priest. Yadav has urged that the keys be transferred to the district magistrate, expressing concerns that the contents in the basement may be subject to tampering.