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Gyanvapi mosque survey: Sacked officer slams allegations of defying court secrecy
A local court in Varanasi on Tuesday removed advocate commissioner Ajay Mishra as one of the camera persons accompanying him had leaked survey proceedings of the Gyanvapi mosque in the media.
Advocate commissioner Ajay Mishra, who was removed from his post in the panel tasked to conduct a survey inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex, said he will respect the local court's order, while blaming special advocate commissioner Vishal Singh for the outcome. “I have not done anything that reveals the secrecy of the matter. I was removed because of the allegations of advocate Vishal Singh…Whatever has happened is only because of (him),” Mishra was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The court order was passed by civil judge senior division Ravi Kumar Diwakar on an application filed by Singh. In his plea, the special advocate commissioner alleged that Mishra was not cooperating completely with the court-appointed commission's proceedings and was also not taking interest in the same.
Mishra was removed as one of the camera persons accompanying him had reportedly leaked survey proceedings in the media. Assistant advocate commissioner Ajai Pratap Singh will now accompany Singh during the submission of the report on May 19.
Earlier in the day, the commission that concluded its three-day survey of the mosque in Varanasi on Monday, sought additional time from the local court as the final report was yet to be compiled. The panel was asked to present the report by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court asked the district magistrate of Varanasi to ensure protection of the area inside the mosque where a 'Shivling' was said to be found in the survey, while allowing Muslims to offer ‘namaz’ and perform “religious observances”.
The apex court, however, dismissed pleas to stay further proceedings before a civil judge of the local court. The lower court on Monday had ordered the sealing of the area inside the mosque complex.
However, an advocate of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi Mosque, said the structure being claimed to be ‘Shivling’ is actually a fountain inside the mosque.
