Varanasi court reserves order on Gyanvapi Masjid

The Advocate Commissioners appointed by a Varanasi court for videographic survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex on Tuesday sought two days’ time to submit a report, as the civil judge reserved his order till 4 pm. The Court-appointed committee responsible for the survey of mosque adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple collecting data amid plea moved for access to Hindus to the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthall, may not produce the report before the court on Tuesday as was asked. The survey report is apparently only 50 per cent completed, said Assistant Court Commissioner Ajay Pratap Singh. “Survey lasted for 3 days from May 14 to 16. Only 50 per cent report is ready, not completed yet, which is why we won’t be able to produce it before the court today. We will seek 3-4 days’ time from court,” he added. From the Hindu side a new application was moved seeking direction for removal of obstacles in front of the statue of Nandi. Arguments were made from both sides on different aspects of the case before Civil Judge (Senior Division) Sunil Kumar Diwakar after which the court reserved its order till 4 pm. The wazukhana and a toilet adjacent to it have been sealed as per the court’s order following discovery of a Shivling in the portion. Namaz was offered in Gyanvapi mosque amid tight security arrangements. According to the Intezamia Committee of the functional mosque, there was no ban on the number of namazis and the namaz was offered peacefully. The Committee has asked the people offering namaz to do wazoo (cleaning of hands and feet) at their homes before coming to offer namaz in the mosque. Though alternate arrangements were made at the mosque for wazoo. The Shivling was found in Gyanvapi mosque complex during the videographic survey on Monday, leading to the court’s order to seal off the area where the discovery was made. It also directed the district administration to ban entry of any person in that specific area. On an application moved by Hari Shankar Jain, the counsel of the plaintiffs, the court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar said: “DM Varanasi is being directed to seal the place where the Shivling has been found with immediate effect and ban entry of any person in the area.” In the application submitted by Jain, it was requested that a Shivling has been found inside the mosque complex during the commission process which is important evidence. Therefore, the CRPF Commandant should be directed to seal the area with immediate effect, he pleaded. The survey has taken place in two parts — once on May 6 and 7 (with the latter date being an incomplete exercise) and then again from May 14 to 16. (UNI)