New Delhi, 1 April

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Hindu prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque and sought response of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple trustees on the plea of the mosque management committee.

The top court also ordered maintaining of status quo on offering of namaz by Muslims in the Gyanvapi premises in Varanasi.

The court was hearing a fresh plea of the Gyanvapi mosque management committee against an Allahabad High Court decision upholding a lower court's order allowing Hindu prayers in the southern cellar of the mosque.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also sought response of priest Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas by 30 April on the plea of the mosque committee. The bench, which also comprised Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, was hearing the plea of the mosque committee which manages the affairs of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.

The high court, on 26 February, had dismissed the committee's plea in which it had challenged the district court's 31 January order allowing Hindus to offer prayers in the cellar. While dismissing the plea of the mosque committee, the high court had observed that the Uttar Pradesh government's 1993 decision of stopping worship rituals inside the "Vyas Tehkhana" -- located at the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi -- was "illegal".