Gyanvapi mosque: Court adjourns plea seeking rejection of Hindu suit till May 30

The Varanasi district court on Thursday adjourned the hearing in the maintainability petition of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee that manages the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, till May 30.

The committee had been seeking dismissal of the Hindu petitioners’ suit for unhindered right to worship at the Shringar Gauri sthal inside the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex amid claims of a Shivling found on the premises. During the hearing, only petitioners, lawyers and defendants were allowed inside the court. The hearing that began around 2pm went on for about two hours.

The Masjid committee argued that the suit by the Hindu side was non-maintainable and should be rejected under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC). It said rumours were being spread about the ‘Shivaling’ to invoke sentiments of people.

Abhay Nath Yadav, one of the advocates of Muslim side, presented several arguments seeking dismissal of the suit. Both sides received the videography report of the court-appointed survey commission.

Advocate Vishnu Jain, arguing for the Hindu women, said, “Today, Muslim side just read out paragraphs from our petition and tried to say that the petition is not maintainable. We interjected and pointed out to the court that we’ve specific rights & all pleadings were made:

Two unauthorised persons were removed from the courtroom by police. One advocate was also reportedly removed from the premises of the court on the orders of the district Judge

The district court was hearing the case following directions of the Supreme Court that said the case needed to be heard by a more matured and experienced judge. The apex court ordered that a decision be made on priority over the Muslim committee’s application against the maintainability of the suit.

During its last hearing on Tuesday, the district court had said it would hear the Muslim side’s plea and decide whether the suit by the Hindu parties, which led to a survey of the mosque, could be entertained at all.

The Hindu side’s plea related to a controversial survey of the complex would be heard later.