Plea To 'Preserve' Gyanvapi Premises: Varanasi Court Grants Mosque Committee Time Till August 9 To File Its Objections

In an application filed before the District Judge of Varanasi to pass an order 'preserving' the Gyanvapi Mosque Premises, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (which manages the Mosque at Varanasi) has been granted time till August 9 to file its objections to the same. On that day, the Court is expected to dispose of the application.District Judge AK Vishwesha passed this today as the Counsel for the Mosque Committee sought to file its reply opposing the application which has been filed under Order 39 Rule 7 of the Civil Procedure Code by Rakhi Singh in the Shringar Gauri Worshipping suit 2022 (presently pending before the Varanasi Court).It may be noted that the 2022 Suit has been filed by 4 Hindu Women Worshippers (including Singh) who are party to a suit filed before the District Court seeking year-round access to worship inside Mosque premises.In her application, filed through Advocates Man Bahadur Singh and Anupam Dwivedi, Singh has claimed that the Mosque committee is destroying the historical evidence related to the Hindu religion which is available at the disputed site and therefore, orders be passed to preserve the entire property.The application also states that that if the available evidence related to the Hindu religion is destroyed, then there will be difficulty in the disposal of the 2022 Suit as well and there will be a problem in reaching to an appropriate judicial conclusion in the matter.It is significant to note that the application by Singh was filed on Wednesday, soon after she, along with others, moved a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea in the Allahabad High Court seeking a direction to the Uttar Pradesh Government to seal the entire Gyanvapi Mosque premises w/o affecting the ASI Survey order of the Varanasi Court that has been upheld by both, the Allahabad HC (on July 3) and the Supreme Court (on July 4). The HC is set to hear the PIL plea on August 8.In her PIL plea, Singh has claimed that at the disputed site (settlement Plot No. 9130 Ward and PS- Dashaswamedh, District Varanasi), a magnificent temple used to exist, wherein Lord Shiva, the Lord of Universe, himself established the "Jyotirlinga" lakhs of years ago, however, the said temple was damaged/destroyed in the year 1669 by "cruel Islamic" ruler Aurangzeb.The PIL plea further states that after destroying the said temple, Muslims unauthorizedly encroached into the temple premises and put a super structure which they call the "alleged Gyanvapi Mosque" even though the property was vesting in the deity and the same was not and could not be a Waqf Property.Read more about the PIL Plea here: PIL In Allahabad HC Seeks Sealing Of Entire Gyanvapi Mosque Premises Sans Affecting ASI Survey, Ban On Entry Of Non-HindusIn related news, earlier today the Supreme Court refused to stop the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) from carrying out a survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque at Varanasi, except the 'wuzukhana' area where a 'shivling' was claimed to have been found last year.Taking on record an undertaking made on behalf of the ASI that no excavation will be done at the site and no damage will be caused to the structure, the Court allowed the survey to take place.The Court ordered thus while disposing of a petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (which manages the Gyanvapi Mosque at Varanasi) challenging yesterday's Allahabad High Court order which permitted the ASI survey.On July 21, Varanasi District Judge directed the Director of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a “scientific survey” of the Gyanvapi mosque premises except for the area that was sealed earlier (wuzukhana) to find out if the same has been built over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. This order was upheld by the Allahabad HC on August 3.

Plea To 'Preserve' Gyanvapi Premises: Varanasi Court Grants Mosque Committee Time Till August 9 To File Its Objections

Sparsh Upadhyay

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