Prayagraj: The Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM) submitted before the high court on Thursday that any further action regarding the survey of Gyanvapi mosque 's wuzukhana was not permissible as the matter was pending before the Supreme Court. Filing its counter affidavit in the petition filed by the Hindu side seeking an ASI survey of the ablution pond area except for the ' Shivling '-like structure inside the Gyanvapi mosque, the AIM said that the SC had ordered that the pond area should be preserved and handed over its safety and security to the district magistrate, Varanasi. “Instead, the petitioner should approach the apex court to seek clarification of the apex court’s 2022 order.
In this backdrop, the district judge, Varanasi has rightly rejected the application of Hindu side on October 21, 2023 as the matter is covered by the apex court’s interim orders arising out of the same suit”, the counter-affidavit filed by the AIM through its counsel senior advocate SFA Naqvi said. Taking the affidavit on record, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal granted two weeks’ to Saurabh Tiwari, the counsel for the petitioner to file rejoinder affidavit and fixed September 9, 2024 as the next date of hearing. In the present civil revision, the petitioner Rakhi Singh has challenged the Varanasi district judge’s October 21, 2023 order whereby he had refused to direct the ASI to undertake the survey of the ablution pond area except the 'Shivling'-like structure inside the Gyanvapi mosque.
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