HC to hear on Wednesday mosque committee plea challenging lower court verdict in Gyanvapi case
Prayagraj (UP) (PTI): The Allahabad High Court will hear on Wednesday the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee's petition challenging the Varanasi district court's September 12 order rejecting its application against the maintainability of a plea seeking daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi Masjid.
Justice J J Munir passed the order on a joint request from the counsels for the parties concerned.
Fixing October 19 as the date of hearing, the high court directed that a photocopy of all papers on the basis of which the district judge had disposed of the application under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) has to be sent to this court by Wednesday.
The photo copies have to be verified by the district judge, the high court said.
On September 12, the Varanasi district court said it will continue to hear a petition by some Hindu women seeking daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi Masjid, dismissing the mosque committee's argument that the case is not maintainable.
District Judge A K Vishvesh rejected the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee's petition questioning the maintainability of the case, which has reignited the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi Masjid dispute.
The mosque committee's dismissed plea had cited the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 to make its case.
The Varanasi district court said the 1991 Act does not apply in this case -- where the devotees are seeking permission for daily worship of the idols they say are already installed there. Already, they are allowed to offer prayers there once a year, their lawyers had argued.
The mosque committee has now filed a revision petition in the high court against the district court order.
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SP has ended contract with I-PAC due to fund constraints: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party has severed its association with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) due to a lack of funds.
He dismissed speculations that the termination of contract was because of recent election results.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party had engaged I-PAC for a brief period ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but could not continue the arrangement.
"Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding," he said.
The I-PAC is a political consultancy firm known for managing major election campaigns across the country.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has also been associated with the organisation in the past and has worked with multiple parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
In a lighter vein, Yadav took a swipe at the ecosystem of political consultancies. "We thought that if we have to work with a 'winning agency', then there are several big companies."
He said that some people suggested conducting surveys, hiring another firm, keeping a social media company, and even engaging agencies for negative campaigning against other parties.
"There are one or two more companies whose names are not yet known. I can get those for you as well," Yadav said.
Yadav rejected the suggestion that the decision to end the deal was influenced by recent election outcomes in states such as West Bengal.
"There is no such thing. Do not ask questions based on baseless reports. That is not true," he said.
"This is not the reason for ending the agreement. We simply do not have enough funds. If you (the media) give us funds, we can hire another company," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
