The Allahabad High Court on Monday adjourned till February 15 the hearing on a plea challenging the Varanasi district court order allowing Hindu prayers in a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.

Justice Rohit Ranjan Agrawal passed the order on the appeal filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid committee.

The bench heard Punit Gupta and SFA Naqvi, counsels for the Muslim side, at length and fixed February 15 as the next date of hearing in the matter on Naqvi's request. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid committee, which looks after the affairs of the mosque adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, moved the high court on February 2 within hours of the Supreme Court refusing to hear its plea against the Varanasi district court order and asking it to approach the high court.

The Varanasi district court had ruled on January 31 that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.

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