SC to hear plea of Gyanvapi mosque committee against survey on Tuesday

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday the plea of the management of Gyanvapi mosque against the survey of the GyanvapiShringar Gauri complex in Varanasi in Uttar PradeshThe apex court will hear the matter amidst an important development with a Varanasi court on Monday directed the district administration there to seal the spot of the survey inside the complex where allegedly Shivling has been found by the surveying teamAs per the updated list of business of the apex court for Tuesday a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and P S Narasimha would be hearing the plea of the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid which manages the affairs of Gyanvapi mosque in VaranasiThe written order passed on Friday by a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana had ordered the listing of the plea before a bench headed by Justice ChandrachudOn Friday last the bench however had refused to pass any interim order of status quo against the ongoing survey of the religious complex on the plea of the Muslim sideBut the CJIled bench had agreed to consider listing the plea for hearingUpon being mentioned by Huzefa Ahmadi senior counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner we deem it appropriate to direct the Registry to list the matter before the bench presided over by Dr Justice D Y Chandrachud the bench also comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and Hima Kohli had said in its orderAhmadi appearing for the mosque committee had told the bench that a plea had been filed against the survey being conducted at the site and had sought an urgent interim order in the caseWe have filed in relation to a survey which has been directed to be conducted in relation to the Varanasi property This Gyanvapi has been a mosque since time immemorial and this is clearly interdicted by the Places of Worship Act the senior advocate had saidThe Muslim side has been referring to the Places of Worship Special Provisions Act 1991 and its Section 4 which bars filing of any suit or initiating any other legal proceeding for a conversion of the religious character of any place of worship as existing on August 15 1947A Varanasi local court on May 12 had rejected a plea to replace the advocate commissioner it had appointed for conducting a videography survey of the GyanvapiShringar Gauri complex and ordered the completion of the task by May 17The district court also appointed two more lawyers to help the advocate commissioner survey the mosque which is located close to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath templeIt ordered the police to register FIRs if there are attempts to scuttle the exerciseThe local courts May 12 order came on a plea by a group of women seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the mosqueThe mosque management committee had opposed filming inside the mosque and also accused the courtappointed commissioner of partiality Amid the opposition the survey was stalled for a whileCivil Judge Senior Division Ravi Kumar Diwakar also dismissed objections to the opening of the two closed basements in the mosque complex for the survey according to the counsel representing Hindu petitionersThe court also directed the district magistrate and the police commissioner to monitor the exercise and lodge an FIR if anyone created hurdles in the surveyIt said the survey could be done in the GyanvapiShringar Gauri complex between 8 am and 12 pm daily till its completionThe video graphics survey of the mosque was ordered on April 18 2021 by Judge Diwakar following the plea by Delhi residents Rakhi Singh Laxmi Devi Sita Sahu and othersThe original suit was filed in 1991 in the Varanasi district court for the restoration of the ancient temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque currently standsThe plea has been taken in the suit that said the mosque is a part of the templeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever