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.
The petitioner's contention was that the SC order was applicable to the 'Shivling'-like structure and not the entire pond. Rakhi Singh is the main plaintiff in the original Shringar Gauri worshipping suit pending before Varanasi court. In her revision, Rakhi Singh has pleaded that the survey of the Wuzukhana area is necessary in the interest of justice.
It shall 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 Wuzukhana area. Earlier, petitioner’s counsel had argued that the ASI survey of the Wuzukhana area was necessary so that the religious character of the entire property could be determined.
It was also argued that it is possible to survey the Wuzukhana area (except for the 'Shivling') using non-invasive methods as directed by the Supreme Court. It may be noted that the ASI has already conducted a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi complex, barring the pond area, in Varanasi 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.
The 'Shivling'-like structure had been found in the mosque ablution pond in a court-mandate survey as part of the Shirngar Gauri suit in May 2022..
