Gyanvapi Mosque Dispute: Varanasi Court Receives Survey Report, Invites Objection From Parties; Next Hearing On May 23

The Gyanvapi Mosque Survey report was today submitted to Varanasi civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar, pursuant to Court's May 17th Order.The comprehensive report has been compiled by a court-appointed commission after surveying the Mosque premises on May 14, 15, and 16. The Court has now invited objections to the report from both sides in the matter.Earlier, the Court had decided to hear the matter at 2 pm today, however, following an order of the Supreme Court adjourning to tomorrow the hearing in the Gyanvapi mosque case, and directing the Varanasi civil court to not pass any orders today in the case, the local court adjourned the hearing till May 23.It may be noted that this is the Second report submitted before the Court, as another commissioner, Ajay Kumar Mishra, who was removed from the position by the judge, submitted his two-page report on Wednesday (of a survey carried out on May 6 and 7). Now, today a second report has been submitted by Special Advocate Commissioner Vishal Singh after surveying the Mosque premises on May 14, 15, and 16.For the uninitiated, the Court, last month ordered an inspection of the premises on petitions moved by five Hindu women asking for year-long access to pray at a Hindu shrine behind the western wall of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi.The local court had earlier directed the authorities to submit a report by May 10, however, the survey could not take place as the mosque committee had opposed the videography inside the mosque.When an objection was raised regarding the name Advocate Ajay Mishra as Court commissioner, the Court had, on May 12, ordered that survey work will continue to take place in the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashivishvanath temple premises and the commissioner, Mishra would not be removed.However, the Court had appointed 2 more lawyers as commissioners to accompany Court commissioner Ajay Mishra for the survey, and further, it has been ordered the Commission to submit a report by May 17 before the court.Now, on May 16, the Local Court was told that the court-appointed Advocate Commissioner had found Shiva Linga inside the Gyanvapi Mosque premises during the survey. Pursuant to this, the Court had ordered to seal the place/area concerned."The District Magistrate, Varanasi is ordered to immediately seal the place where the Shiva linga is found and the entry of any person is prohibited in the sealed place," the operative portion of the order reads.The Court had also directed District Magistrate, Police Commissioner, and CRPF Commandment, Varanasi, to ensure the protection of the sealed place where Shivling has reportedly been found in the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque.Meanwhile, a petition was filed by the Masjid Committee before the Supreme Court challenging the survey ordered by the Varanasi court. Hearing the plea on May 17, the Supreme Court had clarified that the order passed by the Civil Judge Senior Division at Varanasi to protect the spot where a "shiv ling" was claimed to have been found during the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque will not restrict the right of Muslims to access the mosque to offer namaz and to perform religious observances.Earlier, on April 22, the Allahabad High Court had dismissed a petition filed by the Managing Committee of Anjuman Intezamiya Masjid regarding the Gyanvapi Masjid-Vishwanath Temple dispute in Varanasi.In their plea, the Majid Committee had opposed the order of the civil court appointing an Advocate Commissioner to present a report after inspecting the idols of Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesha, Lord Hanuman, Nandi/Nandideva present within the Mosque premises.Significantly, on May 17, the Court had granted two days' time to the two commissioners to file their report on the Gyanvapi Mosque survey. However, the Court had ordered to remove the Court commissioner, Advocate Ajay Mishra as he was accused of leaking survey information to the media. Now, the remaining two commissioners submitted the survey report today. The matter will now be heard by the Court on May 23.Click Here To Read/Download Court's order

Gyanvapi Mosque Dispute: Varanasi Court Receives Survey Report, Invites Objection From Parties; Next Hearing On May 23

Sparsh Upadhyay

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