Gyanvapi mosque committee’s plea: Hearing concludes, court’s decision likely today

Anjuman Intezamiya Masjid Committee filed the petition in the court of civil judge (senior division) on May 7, seeking removal of the advocate commissioner

VARANASI Hearing on the petition seeking removal of court-appointed advocate commissioner, Ajai Kumar, who has been tasked with carrying out a survey of the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal in the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi, concluded in the court of civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar on Wednesday. The court is likely to deliver its verdict on May 12, said advocate Abhay Nath Yadav.

The court heard the case on Saturday and listed it for hearing on May 9. The hearing took place in the matter on Monday, Tuesday and then on Wednesday. (Pic for representation)

Yadav is one of the advocates representing the Gyanvapi mosque management committee (Anjuman Intezamiya Masjid Committee) that filed the petition in the court of civil judge (senior division) on May 7, seeking removal of the advocate commissioner.

The court heard the case on Saturday and listed it for hearing on May 9. The hearing took place in the matter on Monday, Tuesday and then on Wednesday. On an average, the hearing went on for over one and a half hours on all three days.

On Wednesday too, Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s advocates argued in favour of their stand to remove the advocate commissioner.

Abhay Nath Yadav said that Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal and Gyanvapi Masjid are separate and in such a situation, there is no justification for videography inside the mosque.

Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi, one of the petitioners, said, “We argued in favour of the advocate commissioner and the survey. We urged the court that survey should be conducted and advocate commissioner should not be changed.”

Advocates of the plaintiffs alleged that the Masjid Committee was obstructing the work of conducting the survey.

On Friday, survey of Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal in Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex had begun in the presence of all parties amid tight security.

On Saturday, advocate commissioner Ajai Kumar, with his team arrived for the survey and videography in the Gyanvapi complex, Varanasi. But the survey could not start as the advocates of the mosque management committee, who arrived about an hour after the survey team, opposed it. They filed the petition against the survey.

On April 26, the court of the civil judge (senior division) of Varanasi, Ravi Kumar Diwakar, had ordered videography of the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal by the advocate commissioner and asked him to present a detailed report before the court on May 10. But the report could not be presented on May 10 as the survey hit a hurdle on Saturday.

The case is titled Rakhi Singh and others versus UP state and Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee. In August 2021, Rakhi Singh, Manju Vyas, Sita Sahu and Rekha Pathak had filed a petition in court in August 2021, seeking permission for daily worship at Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal.

The local court had on April 8, 2022, appointed Ajai Kumar as the advocate commissioner in the case.