The Allahabad High Court Friday declined any immediate relief to the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, and had challenged the January 31 order of the District Court that allowed puja to be performed in the southern cellar of the mosque complex, adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

The lawyer for the mosque committee, which had been directed to the High Court by the Supreme Court Thursday, was told by Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal to amend its application after a “preliminary objection” was raised by lawyers representing the plaintiff — Shailendra Kumar Pathak, head priest of Acharya Ved Vyas Peeth temple, and on whose petition the District Court had permitted the puja – on “the maintainability of appeal on the ground that the basic order dated 17.01.2024 has not been challenged”.

The January 17 order of District Judge A K Vishvesha had appointed the Varanasi District Magistrate as the receiver of the southern cellar.