Gyanvapi mosque survey row: Hearing over, court order tomorrow
India Today
The hearing in the Gyanvapi mosque survey case is over and a Varanasi court is expected to deliver the verdict tomorrow afternoon.
The hearing on the petition by a group of women seeking permission to worship idols of Hindu deities located on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi is over. The sessions court is expected to read the decision on Wednesday afternoon.
A group of Delhi-based women, including Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, and others, moved the court with their plea on April 18, 2021, and had also sought to stop the opponents from causing any damage to the idols.
On April 26, the court of Civil Judge of Varanasi ordered videography by the advocate commissioner of the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi mosque complex and other places after Eid and to submit a report by May 10.
The matter had landed back in court after the survey of some areas outside the complex hit a roadblock last Saturday after the court-appointed team was denied entry into the mosque amid protests.
However, the controversy involving the complex dates back to 1991 when a number of petitions were filed in Varanasi district court by local priests, who sought permission to worship in the Gyanvapi complex.
The petitioners contended that the Gyanvapi Masjid was built on the orders of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb by demolishing a part of the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir in the 17th century.
In 2019, petitioners demanded that an archaeological survey of the entire Gyanvapi mosque complex should be carried out. On September 9, 2021, the Allahabad High Court stayed the archaeological survey of ASI in Gyanvapi Masjid.
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