A Varanasi court on Monday ordered district officials to seal a part of the Gyanvapi mosque where a shivling has allegedly been found during a video survey, NDTV reported.
On May 12, the court had granted permission to the survey commission for carrying out three-day videography inside the Gyanvapi mosque, located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which was concluded on May 17.
Representing a group of Hindu women in the matter, Advocate Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi said that the shivling was found after water was drained from a pond. The pond is reportedly used for ablution (wuzu), Islamic purification rituals before prayers.
Varanasi District Magistrate Mahendra Prasad Pandey confirmed that the commission filmed all the places at the mosque in detail.
“Three domes, underground basements, pond…all have been video recorded. The advocate commissioner will submit his report in the court tomorrow which will be prepared by the three commission members today. If the report is not finished on time, we will ask the court for more time,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and PS Narasimha will hear a petition challenging the survey on Monday. The management committee of Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Varanasi, which is the caretaker of Gyanvapi mosque has filed the petition, Live Law reported.
The committee said that the survey is an attempt to disturb communal harmony and contravenes the 1991 Places of Worship Act, which has prohibited the conversion of places of worship from one religion to another, with the exception of Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid site.
