Gyanvapi Mosque row: Allahabad HC adjourns hearing till May 20 due to paucity of time
The apex court will hear the matter amid an important development with a Varanasi court on Monday directed the district administration there to seal the spot of the survey inside the complex where allegedly ‘Shivling’ has been found by the surveying team.
The Allahabad High Court on Monday adjourned the hearing in the Kashi-Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi Mosque issue of Varanasi till May 20 due to paucity of time. The high court's decision comes even the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday the plea of the management of Gyanvapi mosque against the survey of the complex.
The top court will hear the matter amid an important development with a Varanasi court on Monday directed the district administration there to seal the spot of the survey inside the complex where allegedly ‘Shivling’ has been found by the surveying team.
The Hindu side claimed that the “Shivling” was found close to the “wazookhana” -- a small reservoir used by Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering the namaz. The claimed finding on the last day of the survey reignited the mandir-masjid debate over the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex located close to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple.
As per the updated list of business of the apex court for Tuesday, a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and PS Narasimha would be hearing the plea of the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the affairs of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya expressed satisfaction over the development, while AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said Muslims are not prepared to lose “another mosque” after the Babri Masjid.
A Varanasi local court on May 12 had rejected a petition to replace the advocate commissioner it had appointed for conducting a videography survey of the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex and ordered the completion of the task by May 17.
The district court also appointed two more lawyers to help the advocate commissioner survey the mosque, which is located close to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple.
The local court's May 12 order came on a plea by a group of women seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the mosque.
(With inputs from agencies)
