Gyanvapi Case: Varanasi Court To Hear Plea Seeking Worship Of 'Shivling' Found In Mosque Complex

The Muslim side has maintained that the object was part of the water fountain mechanism at the 'wazookhana' reservoir.

A file photo of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi

Source : PTI

A Varanasi fast-track court on Thursday said it would hear a petition seeking permission to allow worship of the 'Shivling' claimed by the Hindu side to have been found in the Gyanvapi mosque complex. Fast-track court Judge Mahendra Kumar Pandey fixed December 2 for taking up the matter, Assistant District Government Counsel Sulabh Prakash told PTI.

The petition, filed by Kiran Singh, general secretary of the Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh, also sought that Muslims be banned from the Gyanvapi mosque complex and it be handed over to the Sanatan Sangh.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee had objected to the plea citing the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Act states that the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947, must be maintained.

The lawyers of the Hindu side argued that Waqf Act was not applicable to them.

The Muslim side has maintained that the object was part of the water fountain mechanism at the 'wazookhana' reservoir where devotees carry out ablutions before offering namaz.

On May 25, district judge AK Vishvesh had ordered the transfer of the suit to the fast-track court.

READ | Gyanvapi Masjid Case: Varanasi Court Dismisses Plea Filed By Masjid Committee

The Varanasi district magistrate, the police commissioner, the Anjuman Intezamia Committee, which manages the affairs of the Gyanvapi mosque, and the Vishwanath Temple Trust were made respondents in the suit.

On April 26, a lower court (civil judge-senior division) in Varanasi, hearing a plea by a group of five women seeking permission for daily worship of idols of Hindu deities on the mosque's outer walls, ordered a videographic survey of the Gyanvapi complex. The Hindu side had claimed the 'Shivling' was found during the exercise.

Last week, the Supreme Court extended its May 17 order for the protection of the 'Shivling'. The SC order came after the Hindu side said that the May 17 order of the apex court granting protection to the 'Shivling' area was expiring on November 12 and it needed to be extended. The apex court has also allowed Muslims to offer namaz in the Gyanvapi mosque.

Earlier in the day, a Varanasi court dismissed the Anjuman Islamia Masjid committee's plea challenging the maintainability of a suit to hand over possession of the Gyanvapi mosque premises to Lord Vishweshwar Virajman (Swayambhu), reported Live Law.

"Varanasi Court dismisses the plea filed by the Masjid committee challenging the maintainability of the suit in the Gyanvapi Mosque case; the next hearing is on 2nd December," said Anupam Dwivedi, advocate of the Hindu side.