Gyanvapi case: Varanasi court to hear mosque committee’s case first

The Varanasi court, hearing the Gyanvapi mosque case, on Tuesday (May 24) said it will first hear the mosque committee’s contention that filming inside the mosque was illegal.

The court of Varanasi’s senior-most judge will start hearing the case on May 26, taking up the “maintainability” issue first.

The Hindu and Muslim sides have been told to file affidavits with their objections to the survey report within a week.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, the managing body of the mosque, had earlier prevented a court appointed-team led by advocate commissioner Ajay Kumar from entering the masjid premises and a barricaded area inside it when the latter arrived for the survey on May 6-7.

Reports said while the survey is meant to ascertain if the mosque was superimposed on the foundations of a temple, the mosque committee was adamant about not allowing anyone to enter its premises and said the survey should be limited to the outer wall of the mosque premises.

The committee moved court on May 7, accusing the commissioner of being biased and seeking his replacement. The committee also pleaded that only certain parts of the precincts be covered in the survey.

The Varanasi court, on May 12, dismissed the committee request and said the survey inside the mosque will continue. The court, however, asked the survey team to furnish the report by May 17, which it did.

Also read: Gyanvapi case has opened a Pandora’s box of mandir-masjid tussles; here’s a list

The mosque committee has also argued that that filming at the mosque is in violation of a 1991 law that stops alteration of the character of any place of worship in the country.

Recently, the Supreme Court asked the Varanasi court to decide on priority whether the survey at the Gyanvapi mosque and the petition that led to the survey was ‘maintainable’ or not.

“I told the court it is a mandate of the Supreme Court that our application saying the case is not maintainable should be heard first. I read out my application and also the Supreme Court order. The opposing counsel said he needed more documents and time to file objections to our application but I said the maintainability must be decided first “, Abhay Nath Yadav, a lawyer for the Mosque committee told NDTV on Monday.