Gyanvapi case: Allahabad HC accepts plaintiff’s application, grants time to Muslim side for reply

STATE TIMES NEWS

PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday accepted the supplementary affidavit filed by a plaintiff and granted time to the Muslim side to file its reply in the Gyanvapi mosque and Kashi Vishwanath temple case at Varanasi.
The court fixed October 22 as the next date for hearing.
In pursuance of earlier order passed on September 24, the counsel for revision petitioner Rakhi Singh filed supplementary affidavit bringing on record the application moved by one of the plaintiffs Laxmi Devi earlier for the scientific investigation and survey of the protected area.
Laxmi Devi’s supplementary affidavit was taken on record and the court granted time to the Muslim side to file its reply.
The order was passed by Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal while hearing a civil revision petition filed by Rakhi Singh, one of the plaintiffs in the Sringar Gauri Worshipping suit, before the Varanasi court.
The revision petition challenges the Varanasi district judge’s order dated October 21, 2023 refusing to direct the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to undertake a survey of the wazukhana area, except for the shivling, inside the Gyanvapi mosque.
In her revision petition, Rakhi Singh has pleaded that the survey of the wazukhana area is necessary in the interest of justice. It will benefit the plaintiffs and defendants alike and help the court arrive at a just decision in the suit.
It has also been contended that the Varanasi district judge, in his October 21 order, failed to exercise the jurisdiction vested in it by law to direct for the survey of the wazukhana area.
The counsel for the revision petitioners argued that the ASI survey of the wazukhana area is necessary so that the religious character of the entire property could be determined.
It was also argued that it is possible to survey the wazukhana area, except for the shivling, using non-invasive methods as directed by the Supreme Court. The ASI has already conducted a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi complex and has also submitted its report to the Varanasi district judge.
The ASI had conducted a survey in accordance with the July 21, 2023 order of the Varanasi district judge to determine if the mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.