E-Paper
Transfer all 7 Gyanvapi cases to distt court: Varanasi district judge
The court passed the order after hearing all the parties on an application moved by advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain in last December seeking transfer of all the cases to the district court on the ground that all these cases “were of similar nature”.
The court of Varanasi district judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesh on Monday ordered to transfer all seven cases related to Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi issue from the court of civil judge senior division and the civil judge (senior division) fast track court to the district court, people familiar with the matter said.
The court passed the order after hearing all the parties on an application moved by advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain in last December seeking transfer of all the cases to the district court on the ground that all these cases “were of similar nature”.
Jain is the counsel of four out of five women plaintiffs, including Lakshmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak, in case number 18/2022, seeking permission for regular worship of Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal, a shrine for goddess Parvati purportedly located behind western wall of the mosque complex.
Jain expressed happiness over the order.
Reacting to the development, another lawyer for the Hindu side, Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi said, “The court said the transfer applications have been accepted and the seven cases will be transferred to this court i.e. the district court, Varanasi, by withdrawing them from the respective courts where they are currently pending.”
According to Chaturvedi, the court said, “When all these suits are transferred to this court (district court), it will be decided whether it would be suitable to consolidate all these suits or not.”
Of the seven suits, civil suit number 712/2022 filed by Kiran Singh on behalf of Bhagwan Adi Vishweshwar Virajman, is pending with the court of civil judge (senior division) fast track court.
Cases in the court of civil judge (senior division) include civil case number 925/2022 filed by Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati and Ramsajeevan seeking permission for bhog and worship of Shivling claimed to have been found in Gyanvapi complex.
Civil case number 245/2022 filed by Lucknow residents Satyam Tripathi, Ashish Kumar Shukla and Varanasi resident Pawan Kumar Pathak seeking permission for worship of the Shivling. Civil case number 350/2022 filed on behalf of Goddess Maa Shringar Gauri and Asthan Lord Adi Vishweshwar through their next friend Ranjana Agnihotri and Jitendra Singh seeking permission for worship of Maa Shringar Gauri and Asthan Lord Adi Vishweshwar.
Civil case number 358/2021 was filed on behalf of Maa Ganga through next friend Suresh Chavan, Umakant Gupta, Anand Sahu, Manish Nigam and Rupesh Mishra seeking permission for worship of Lord Adi Vishweshwar in Gyanvapi complex.
Civil case number 840/2021 was filed on behalf of Shri Nandi Maharaj seated within premises of Shri Adi Vishweshwar Mahadev Temple through next friend Sitendra Chaudhary, Jaihind Chaudhary and others in court of civil judge (senior division) seeking permission for worship of Adi Vishweshwar in the complex.
