Varanasi: Security personnel stand guard outside the closed gate of Gyanvapi Masjid
Highlight
- A local court ordered the sealing of a pond in the Gyanvapi mosque where the Shivling was found.
- Masjid Management Committee disputed the claim, saying the object was part of a water fountain
- There was a ruckus soon after the Shivling was found.
The district judge’s court in Varanasi is set to hear the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri case from Monday, for which security has been tightened in the area. On May 20, the Supreme Court ordered the transfer of all relevant files from the Civil Judge (Senior Division) Court.
Mahendra Prasad Pandey, advocate (civil) for the district government, said that the district judge’s court will clarify the points on which the hearing will start on Monday.
Meanwhile, senior police officials on Monday said that adequate security arrangements have been made to ensure that neither side faces any trouble in the hearing of the case.
“We have deployed adequate forces and barricades have been put up as a precautionary measure,” a senior official said.
Five women devotees, Rakhi Singh, Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak, all from Delhi, Varanasi had filed a petition in the court on April 18, 2021, seeking daily worship of Goddess Shringar Gauri in the mosque premises. Civil Judge.
Hearing in Gyanvapi Masjid – Updates so far
On April 8, the court appointed Ajay Kumar Mishra as Advocate Commissioner for the survey of Gyanvapi Masjid. The respondents, Anjuman Intejamiya Masjid Committee, had filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court challenging the order of survey and appointment of the Advocates Commissioner, but the petition was dismissed.
The Court Commission had started the survey of Gyanvapi on 6 May, but it was stopped the next day due to protests by the AIM, which also demanded the Civil Judge (Senior Division) Court to replace the Advocate Commissioner, calling Mishra biased. .
The court dismissed the plea to replace Mishra but appointed Vishal Singh as Special Advocates Commissioner and Ajay Pratap Singh as Assistant Advocates Commissioner.
The court commission resumed the survey on May 14 and concluded it on May 16, amid claims by the petitioners that a ‘Shivalinga’ was found in the Wuzu pond of Gyanvapi.
On May 17, the court dismissed Mishra following a complaint of information leak and asked Special Counsel Commissioner Vishal Singh to submit the survey report on May 19.
On May 20, hearing the petition of the AIM Committee, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the survey order passed in the Gyanvapi Masjid case and transferred the civil suit filed by Hindu devotees from Civil Judge (Senior Division) to District Judge Varanasi. . He said considering the “complexities” and “sensitivity” of the case, it is better that a senior judicial officer with more than 25-30 years of experience handle the matter.
(With inputs from IANS)