Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker of the Allahabad High Court has taken action to withdraw the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi land title dispute cases from the purview of Justice Prakash Padia. The primary motive behind this decision is to maintain the integrity, discipline, and transparency of the judicial process. This action was executed through an administrative order issued on August 11.

The Chief Justice's order, dated August 28, illuminated several critical aspects that led to this decisive move. It underscored the disregard for established procedures in case listing, the issuance of multiple orders reserving judgment, and the unauthorized reinstatement of cases before Justice Prakash Padia, despite his loss of jurisdiction as per the master of the roster.

The transfer of these cases to Chief Justice Diwaker's bench materialized approximately one month after a separate bench, led by Justice Padia, had concluded hearings and reserved judgments in July. The reasons for this transfer remained undisclosed initially but have now been elucidated.

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The decision to withdraw the cases stemmed from a complaint received on July 27, 2023, filed by counsel representing one of the involved parties. The complaint underscored substantial procedural irregularities, notably the reservation of judgment on three separate occasions following 35 hearings. This contravened the Supreme Court's directive mandating that judgments be pronounced within six months—a deadline that had expired on May 26, 2023. Consequently, the complaint advocated for the reassignment of these cases to another bench.

In response to the complaint, Chief Justice Diwaker called for a report from the court registry to elucidate why this matter had not been brought to his attention earlier. The registry's report uncovered that these cases had been listed before the Single Judge without the requisite nomination from the Chief Justice, as stipulated by the roster. Additionally, the records were inaccessible to the department responsible for case listing.

Taking cognizance of these revelations, Chief Justice Diwaker, on August 11, issued the administrative order to withdraw the cases. He stressed the imperative nature of this action to safeguard the judiciary's integrity, discipline, and transparency during the case listing process.

The Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi Mosque land title dispute cases involve legal challenges to a suit seeking the restoration of a temple at the Gyanvapi Mosque site. Furthermore, a plea from the Anjuman Masjid Committee, responsible for mosque management, contested a 2021 order mandating an archaeological survey of the mosque complex. This survey aimed to ascertain whether a Hindu temple had been partially demolished to construct the mosque during the 17th century.

The Allahabad High Court had halted proceedings related to these cases in September 2021. The central issue revolves around the Gyanvapi Mosque, alleged to have been constructed on the remnants of the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

As a result of this withdrawal, Chief Justice Diwaker's bench will now oversee these cases, marking a new chapter in this longstanding legal dispute.

Title: "Anjuman Intazamia Masazid Varanasi vs. Ist A.D.J. Varanasi And Others" | Case Number: MATTERS UNDER ARTICLE 227 No. 3341 of 2017