Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case: Varanasi district court reserves order for Tuesday | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case: Varanasi district court reserves order for Tuesday

May 24, 2022 03:43 AM IST

The decision is likely to be crucial in the landmark case because the it will indicate if the court will take up the 1991 Places of Worship Act, which forms the crux of the argument by the Muslim parties

A court in Varanasi will decide on Tuesday whether it will hear first an application by Muslim parties seeking the dismissal of petitions asking for worshipping rights inside the Gyanvapi Masjid complex or pleas by Hindu petitioners to take up the findings of a controversial survey of the complex.

Varanasi, May 19 (ANI): An outer view of the Gyanvapi Mosque, in Varanasi on Friday. (ANI Photo) (Rajesh Kumar)
Varanasi, May 19 (ANI): An outer view of the Gyanvapi Mosque, in Varanasi on Friday. (ANI Photo) (Rajesh Kumar)

The decision is likely to be crucial in the landmark case because the it will indicate if the court will take up the 1991 Places of Worship Act, which forms the crux of the argument by the Muslim parties. If the court decides to hear the Hindu side’s plea first, it will indicate that the controversial survey findings -- which have already hinted at the presence of Hindu relics -- will take centrestage.

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District and sessions judge AK Vishvesha heard arguments from Hindu petitioners, who are demanding the right to worship idols of deities they say are installed behind the western wall of the mosque, and the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the 17th-century mosque, on Monday before reserving his judgment.

The case was shifted from the civil court, which had ordered the survey in April, to the district court last week by the Supreme Court, which noted that the “complexities and sensitivities involved in the matter” would require a “more senior and experienced hand”.

Also read: Amid Gyanvapi row, Owaisi's fountain claim with a swipe at 'sanghi geniuses'

“After hearing arguments of both sides, the court will on Tuesday give its verdict on which petition is to be heard first,” said Madan Mohan Yadav, a lawyer for the Hindu side.

The survey was completed on May 16. Hours later, Hindu petitioners claimed that a “Shivling” was found on the premises, prompting the civil court to order protection. Leaked details of the survey report, which was submitted to the court later said that signs of Hindu relics and motifs were found inside the premises.

The Hindu petitioners demanded that they be given a copy of the survey report. But the mosque committee argued that the district judge should first consider the application filed under Order 7 Rule 11 (seeking dismissal of the suit on the ground of its maintainability) of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC).

“We urged the court that Order 7 and Rule 11 application be heard separately. The Supreme Court has also said so in its last order,” said Rais Ahmad Ansari, one of the advocates of the Gyanvapi mosque management committee. The Muslim side says the Hindu women’s plea violates the 1991 Places of Worship Act, which freezes the religious identity of all sites of worship as on the day of India’s Independence, except for the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.

Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi, one of the advocates for the Hindu petitioners, said: “The district court has to pass an order on whether it will hear the application under Order 7 Rule 11 of the CPC first, or consider the request that a copy of the commission report be provided to the petitioners.”

“We urged the court that the copy of the commission report, including videography and photography, should be made available to us. We will study it and file objection, if we have any. We also urged the court that Order 7 Rule 11 application should not be heard separately,” he added.

The survey of the mosque complex was ordered by a Varanasi civil court last month on a suit filed by five women, who sought daily prayers and worship rights at the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal, a shrine dedicated to Hindu goddess Parvati behind the western wall of the complex.

Also read: Application for impleadment in Gyanvapi case says 1991 law cannot protect mosque

On Friday, a Supreme Court bench, led by justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, refrained from interfering with the survey, and transferred the suit from the Varanasi civil judge to the district judge for deciding the mosque management committee’s objections against the inquiry.

The Supreme Court bench, in its Friday order, added that the district judge shall decide on priority the application of the Gyanvapi mosque management committee, which claims that the case of the Hindu petitioners is barred by the Places of Worship Act.

During the proceedings on Friday, the apex court also observed that ascertainment of the religious character of a place may not be barred by the Places of Worship Act, 1991 – a remark that may come handy for the Hindu petitioners should the Varanasi district judge take up the mosque managing committee’s plea on maintainability.

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