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Varanasi court to rule on petition seeking ASI survey on Gyanvapi barricaded area
The court completed hearing on the matter last Friday, setting the day to pronounce an order on July 21
The Varanasi district court will on Friday pronounce an order on an application seeking a survey by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the barricaded area of the Gyanvapi mosque complex excluding its sealed area.
The court completed hearing on the matter last Friday, setting the day to pronounce an order on July 21.
Vishnu Shankar Jain, counsel for four Hindu women plaintiffs in the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case, filed the application in the district court on May 16.
Later, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC), which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, filed an objection in the matter.
Rajesh Mishra, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government’s special advocate for the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case, said, “The court heard the arguments of both the sides in the application seeking ASI survey in the barricaded area of Gyanvapi and the hearing was completed on Friday. The court reserved its order in the matter for July 21.”
For his part, Jain argued, “The ASI survey in the barricaded area of the Gyanvapi area, excluding its sealed area, is needed so that the reality could come to the fore.”
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“Under the dome of the Gyanvapi complex, there are remains of the pinnacle of the temple. Also, the western wall of the mosque is the remains of the temple,” Jain claimed, adding that the ASI survey in the barricaded area of Gyanvapi, excluding the sealed area, should be done so that the actual situation could be clear.
Anupam Dwivedi, counsel for plaintiff number one, Rakhi Singh, supported the demand for a survey by the ASI.
Ekhlaq Ahmad, a counsel for the AIMC, argued against the demand for a survey in the barricaded area of the Gyanvapi.
“A fresh survey cannot be done because a survey of the Gyanvapi premises was already done in May 2022 by the advocate commissioner at the order by the court of the civil judge (senior division). That matter has not been disposed. That is why a fresh survey is not needed,” he said.
Amit Kumar Srivastava, standing government counsel for the Centre, was also present in the court.
Santosh Singh, national president of the Vishwa Vedic Sanathan Sangh (VVSS), was present during the hearing.
Rakhi Singh, along with four Varanasi-based women — Rekha Pathak, Manju Vyas, Sita Sahu, and Lakshmi Devi — had filed the Shringar Gauri case in the court of civil judge (senior division) Varanasi in August 2021. The plaintiffs had sought permission for daily worship at the ‘Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal’ in the Gyanvapi complex.
