Keep tubs with water for ablution in Gyanvapi Mosque, says SC

The Supreme Court on Friday disposed of an application seeking arrangements for the performance of wuzu in the Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's assurance that sufficient water would be provided by the administration at the place where wuzu is to be performed in the mosque on Eid.

Recording the assurance given by Mehta, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said the Solicitor General has assured that "the collector or the district magistrate shall ensure that sufficient number of tubs and facilities for water are made available in proximity to as to not inconvenience the devotees who have come for performing namaz". The CJI said that to facilitate the performance of ablution, not drums, but long tubs should be provided. The CJI verbally remarked that something convenient for the purpose should be provided.

The top court on Monday had directed the district collector of Varanasi to convene a meeting on Tuesday to provide a congenial working arrangement for 'wuzu' or ritual ablution inside the Gyanvapi mosque premises during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan.


The application was filed earlier this month on a clutch of pleas pertaining to the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute.