JOIN USSC to hear plea against survey at Gyanvapi mosque on May 17
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday a plea by a Committee of Management, Anjuman E Intezamia Masjid to stop the survey at Gyanvapi mosque, situated next to Kashi Vishwanath temple at Varanasi.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and P S Narasimha would take up the matter on May 17. The plea before the top court questioned the validity of the Allahabad High Court's April 21 order declining to intervene in the survey.
Notably, a local civil court had directed for furnishing on May 17 a report on the survey — carried out for three days till Monday — at the site of the mosque believed to have been built in 1669 during the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb after demolishing the existing Vishweshwar temple.
On May 13, the top court had declined to immediately stop the survey of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi by ordering a status quo, and instead agreed to list the matter.
"We don't know anything about the matter. We have no details. How can we pass the order," the bench led by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana had said on Friday.
The petitioner had claimed the mosque has been covered under Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991, which mandates that the character of all shrines in the country be maintained as prevailed on August 15, 1947.
Separately, the top court had earlier admitted a number of petitions challenging the validity of the 1991 Act.
Acting on a suit filed jointly by five Hindu women, a local court had last month ordered an inspection of the premises through advocate commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra. The Allahabad High Court affirmed the civil court order. The petitioners asked the court to allow year-long access to pray at a shrine behind the western wall of the mosque complex. The women petitioners also want permission to pray to other “visible and invisible deities within the old temple complex”.
On May 12, a Varanasi court ordered resumption of the video survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, including the basement and closed rooms. Muslim parties had objected to the survey.
On a demand by Muslim parties to remove advocate commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra, the court instead appointed two additional commissioners — lawyers Vishal Singh and Ajay Pratap Singh — to assist him.