NEWDELHI:AVaranasidistrict court on Wednesday granted the family of a priest the right to worship Hindu deities in an area inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex. The lawyer for the Hindu petitioners said the order implies that all Hindus could pray at the site.

Varanasi is the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decision follows the inauguration by PM Modi of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

District Judge Ajay Krishna Vishwesha also asked the district magistrate to take over the basement and ensure that the puja starts over the next seven days.

The court allowed a priest`s kin the right to worship deities in Gyanvapi mosque cellar,Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu petitioners, said.

`...puja will start within seven days. Everyone will have the right to perform puja... Hindu side allowed to offer prayers at `Vyas Ka Tekhana`. The district administration will have to make arrangements within seven days,` Jain said.

The mosque has four tahkhanas (cellars) in the basement out of which one is still in possession of the Vyas family who used to live there. According to the petition, priest Somnath Vyas used to perform prayers there till 1993 when the cellar was closed by the authorities, apparently after the destruction of the Babri Masjid in December 1992.

After 1993, the prayers were stopped in the basement on the ordersofthethenstategovern-ment. Shailendra Kumar Pathak, maternal grandson of Somnath Vyas, had sought the right to worship deities there.

Meanwhile, a mosque committee has said that it will approach the Allahabad High Court to challenge the judgement.

NDTV quoted Advocate Jain as saying: `As soon as arrangements are made, Hindu devotees will start offering prayers.

Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust does not need any order to make arrangements for prayers. We have done our legal work. It is up to Trust to start the prayers within seven days.

Referring to the February 1, 1986 order, when District Judge K.M. Pandey ordered the opening of the locks of Ram Mandir, Jain said: `I compare today`s order with that of February 1, 1986,order. It is a historic order,` he added.

Without naming any government, Jain said: `And one state government had misused its power to stop the Hindu devotees from offering prayers there. Today, the court rectified it with its pen.

And gave the order to allow the prayers.

`There was no written order to stop the prayers. Today, there is also no written order from any government to show how the prayers were stopped.

We will soon complete the legal case. And win it.

In reply to a query, he said: `Next, there will be a survey on Wuzu Khana. For which there will be a hearing in the Supreme Court.

Petitioners and advocates representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi case flashed a victory sign after the court order.