Varanasi, July 19 (UNI) The Hindu side on Tuesday claimed that the Places of Worship and the Places of Prayer are two different things and the religious character of a place (temple) cannot be changed.
The submission was made by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, Counsel of plaintiff number two Laxmi Devi, during the hearing on the plea seeking permission for daily worship at Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal in the court of District Judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesha.
The District Court gave Upadhyay five minutes to conclude his arguments. In his submission, he said that places of worship and places of prayers were two different things.
As per the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions), the religious character of the place (temple) cannot be changed because it had already gone through the process of consecration (Pran Pratishtha).
Shivam Gaur, lead counsel of plaintiff number 1 Rakhi Singh, claimed again that Maa Shringar Gauri was regularly worshipped till 1993 and even after 1993 till now, under the regulatory orders of the Uttar Pradesh government, the puja has been going on, hence, the plaint was not barred under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
After the hearing, he said the Hindu side has once again cleared all doubts on the Places of Worship Act, Kashi Vishwanath Act and the Waqf Act before the court. He said the arguments began at 3 pm today and lasted for more than one-and-a-half hours.
Gaur said, "On Thursday, we will again argue after which, the Muslim side will argue in this case."
After listening to arguments from both sides, the District Judge fixed July 21 as the next date of hearing.
UNI XC AB RJ