Varanasi: 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. The court thereby 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. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee had questioned the maintainability of the plea, claiming that the Gyanvapi mosque is a Waqf property. The district judge had last month reserved the order till September 12 in the communally sensitive matter, and quashed the committee's plea, registering a big win for the Hindu petitioners.
Celebrating the win, they said it is a big victory for every Hindu and they should celebrate it in a big way. “Bharat is happy today. My Hindu brothers and sisters should light diyas to celebrate," Manju Vyas, the petitioner from the Hindu side, said as she celebrated the Varanasi court’s verdict. "It's a win for the Hindu community. The next hearing is on Sep 22. It's a foundation stone for the Gyanvapi temple. Appeal to people to maintain peace," said Sohan Lal Arya, petitioner in the Gyanvapi case.
"The court rejected the Muslim side's petition and said the suit is maintainable. The next hearing of the case is on September 22," said Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi mosque case.
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Earlier, the Hindu side had said that they will seek for Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey and carbon dating of 'Shivling' if the judgment comes in their favor. Speaking to a new agency, Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side said, "Today the court will deliver its judgment on the maintainability of the suit. 1991 Worship Act applies in our favor. If judgment comes in our favor, then we will seek for ASI survey, carbon dating of Shivling."
Following this, a Varanasi court ordered the survey of the mosque complex after which a local Varanasi court ordered a videography survey of the complex in May. The survey work was completed on May 16 and the report was presented in the court on May 19. After the videography survey claims were made by the Hindu side that a structure, resembling a Shivling was found in the mosque complex but the Masjid committee contested that it was a fountain and not a Shivling. The Gyanvapi Masjid Committee had challenged the permission to videograph the inside of the mosque in the Supreme Court.
