SC extends protection of ‘shivling’ area in Gyanvapi
| Date :12-Nov-2022 |
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW,
THE Supreme Court on Friday extended till further orders the protection of the area where a ‘shivling’ was claimed to have been found in Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque complex.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices Surya Kant and PS Narasimha also allowed the Hindu parties to move an application before the Varanasi district judge for consolidation of all lawsuits filed on the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri row.
Cases related to the Gyanvapi mosque – located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple – also came up briefly in the Allahabad High Court and the Varanasi district court. The case in the High Court goes back to 1991 while the one in the Varanasi court relates to the recent row -– over permission to allow regular worship of idols on mosque’s rear wall.
Supreme Court directed Hindu parties to file replies within 3 weeks on appeal by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid committee challenging High Court order on appointment of a survey commissioner.
At the outset, senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for Hindu plaintiffs, said the appeal filed by the mosque management committee has become infructuous as they had challenged the appointment of advocate commissioner done by the trial court. “They (mosque committee) have been participating in proceedings before the appointment commissioner, whose appointment they have challenged. Their application of Order 7 Rule 11 (maintainability of the suit) has been decided by the district judge, Varanasi on September 12,” he said.
Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the mosque committee, said that the interlocutory application was served upon him late and they need to file a rebuttal to that as not all facts are correct. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, appearing for Hindu parties who have filed the suit before the district judge seeking right to worship in the Gyanvapi complex said that an application has been filed for consolidation of all the suits. The bench then asked Jain to withdraw the application and granted him liberty to move an application before the district judge of Varanasi for consolidation of all the lawsuits filed in Gyanvapi row. Ahmadi pointed out that Hindu plaintiffs, who have filed the suit before the district judge have not filed their response to their appeal and it should be taken that they don’t wish to file their replies. Kumar assured the bench that they will file their replies in two to three weeks. The bench then passed the orders. The Varanasi district judge is now hearing the plea by a group of women seeking permission for daily worship of idols of Hindu deities located on the mosque’s outer wall. The Hindu side has also sought a survey of two locked basements in the mosque complex. On Friday, district judge A K Vishvesha fixed December 5 as the next date of hearing, according to Govt advocate Mahendra Pandey. Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court adjourned the hearing in the 1991 Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque case to November 28.
This was done on a plea by the mosque committee, which had moved a petition challenging the maintainability of the original suit filed in the Varanasi district court.
Appearing for temple side, advocate C S Vaidyanathan argued that a survey should be conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to bring out the truth. He claimed that looking at the mosque with the naked eye it seems that the structure is part of the temple complex.