District judge to hear case again on September 22 Gyanvapi case: Varanasi court backs Hindu petitioners, says case will continue to be heard

Prohibitory orders clamped in the commissionerate area, officers asked to interact with religious leaders in their respective areas to ensure peace is maintained

Gyanvapi mosque: File picture

TT Web Desk   |   12.09.22 : The Varanasi district court on Monday rejected the plea questioning the maintainability of a petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque.

District Judge A K Vishvesh ordered that it would continue to hear the petition seeking the right to worship in the temple, reports PTI. The court fixed September 22 as the next date of hearing in the case.

Five women had filed the petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are claimed to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the famous Kashi Viswanath temple.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee has said the Gyanvapi mosque is a Waqf property and has questioned the maintainability of the plea. District Judge A K Vishvesh had last month reserved the order till September 12 in the communally sensitive matter, reports PTI.Madan Mohan Yadav, a lawyer of the Hindu side, had claimed that the mosque was constructed after demolishing the temple.

The case is being heard by the district court following an apex court order.

Earlier, a lower court had ordered a videographic survey of the complex. The survey work was completed on May 16 and the report was presented in the court on May 19.

The Hindu side had claimed in the lower court that a Shivling was found during the videographic survey of the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex but it was contested by the Muslim side.

SC directive

The Supreme Court had ordered: "Keeping the complexity and sensitivity of the matter in view, the civil suit before the civil judge in Varanasi shall be heard before a senior and experienced judicial officer of the UP judicial service."

A month before the Supreme Court's intervention in the case, the Varanasi civil court had ordered the filming of the Gyanvapi mosque, based on the petition by the Hindu women who claim there are idols of Hindu Gods and goddesses in the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

A report of the filming at the mosque was then submitted to the Varanasi court in a sealed cover, but the Hindu petitioners controversially released details just hours later.

'Shivling' in pond claim

The report claimed a "Shivling" had been found in a pond within the mosque complex used for "Wazoo" or purification rituals before Muslim prayers. The judge hearing the case at the time had ordered the sealing of this pond.

This filming inside the centuries-old mosque was challenged in the Supreme Court by the Gyanvapi mosque committee.The petitioners said the filming goes against the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which maintains the religious status of any place of worship as of August 15, 1947.

"Such petitions and sealing of mosques will lead to public mischief and communal disharmony, will affect mosques across the country," the mosque committee had argued.

The mosque committee made similar arguments before the Varanasi district judge's court, while lawyers for the Hindu petitioners claimed the law does not bar their case and that they could establish in court that the mosque premises were actually a temple as on the day of Independence.

Prohibitory orders

Police Commissioner A Satish Ganesh had on Sunday said prohibitory orders have been clamped in the Varanasi commissionerate area and officers have been asked to interact with religious leaders in their respective areas to ensure that peace is maintained.

"To maintain law and order, the entire city has been divided into sectors which have been allocated police force as required," he said, adding directives for flag march and foot march in sensitive areas have also been issued.

"Checking has been intensified in the district's border areas, hotels and guest houses, while an eye is also being kept on social media," the police officer said.