Hindu plaintiffs begin arguments in Gyanvapi dispute

The civil suit was initially filed by five women seeking the right to pray at a Hindu temple adjacent to the mosque throughout the year

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee on Tuesday concluded its submissions on their Order VII Rule 11 application, challenging the maintainability of the Hindu plaintiffs’ suit in the ongoing Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath Temple civil dispute, . 

Soon after, four of the Hindu plaintiffs began their submissions before Varanasi district judge A.K. Vishvesha, opposing the Masjid panel’s application, with Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain leading their legal team. 

“We started our arguments by submitting that our suit is not barred under the Places of Worship Act, 1991 or by the Waqf Act,” Mr. Jain said. “Also, we argued that the Masjid panel submissions had clearly gone beyond the ambit of the pleadings in their application.”

The district court is currently hearing arguments from all parties on the maintainability of the civil suit, which was initially filed by five women, seeking the right to pray at a Hindu temple adjacent to the Gyanvapi mosque throughout the year. 

While Mr. Jain, his father Hari Shankar Jain, and their team were initially representing all five plaintiffs, one of them, Rakhi Singh, had last month chosen to drop the Jains as their lawyers, creating a split in the Hindu side. 

On Tuesday, Advocate Shivam Gaur, who is one of the lawyers representing Ms. Rakhi Singh said, “The court asked Mr. Jain to start their arguments today and we will make our submissions after they are done”.

The hearing has now been posted for July 13 (Wednesday) when Mr. Jain will continue arguments on behalf of his clients.