Fresh application in court for ASI survey of all the remaining cellars in Gyanvapi mosque

Hindu plaintiff seeks survey of remaining cellars in disputed Gyanvapi mosque, challenging court's order allowing puja.

Days after a district court allowed puja inside one of the cellars of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, a Hindu plaintiff on Monday moved a fresh application before the court, seeking that directions be given to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a thorough survey of the remaining cellars inside the disputed structure.

The petitioners, Rakhi Singh, who is plaintiff no. 1 in the pending Shringar Gauri worshipping suit of 2022 at a Varanasi court, maintained that the survey of the remaining cellars was necessary to ascertain the religious character of the property in question.

In her application filed under Section 75(e) and Order 26 Rule 10A r/w Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, Ms. Singh claimed that that within the Gyanvapi premises, cellar numbers N1 to N5 (in the north) and S1 to S3 (in the south) exist, and cellar numbers N1 and S1 are completely not accessed because their entrances are blocked.

“She hence demands that the survey of the unaccessed area of the mosque be done by removing the blocked entrance and debris through a safe methodology,” advocate Saurabh Tiwary, Ms. Singh’s counsel, said.

The court will hear the matter on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court on February 6 will hear the amended application by the Anjum Intezamia Masjid Committee, which runs and manages the Gyanvapi mosque, challenging the district court’s order of January 31 of allowing puja to be conducted inside the ‘Vyas ka tehkhana’. The Varanasi district administration, within hours of the lower court’s order, ensured its compliance, and puja is being performed inside the cellar since then.