The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s challenge against the civil litigation that disputed the title to the Gyanvapi mosque and the property surrounding it was dismissed by the Varanasi district and sessions court on Monday.
Five Hindu women had petitioned for the permission to worship Maa Shringar Gauri on the exterior wall of the mosque complex in Uttar Pradesh, near to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
The Gyanvapi case, which was pending before the Varanasi civil judge (senior division), was transferred to the district judge on May 20 by the Supreme Court in light of the “complexity of the issues involved in the civil suit.”
Since district judge A K Vishvesh dismissed the case, the civil lawsuits will now be thoroughly heard, and the evidence will then be examined.
While the Muslim side claimed the mosque was established on waqf property and that the Places of Worship Act prohibited changing its nature, the Hindu side claimed the mosque was built on the site of a temple. In June, Judge Vishvesha started hearing the pleas. The media was not permitted to cover the proceedings.
The Supreme Court announced in July that it would wait for the Varanasi District Court’s ruling on the mosque committee’s objections to the civil proceedings before becoming involved in the situation. The case was then postponed to October 20 by a bench composed of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and P S Narasimha.
All matters must first be discussed before the district court, the bench ruled. The survey of the Gyanvapi complex, where a Shivling was allegedly discovered, was challenged by the mosque committee.
Source: Indian Express
