Gyanvapi hearing in Allahabad HC: 5 things you must know about the case

Hearing on Varanasi Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Gyanvapi Mosque dispute case will be heard in Allahabad High Court today. The hearing will be held by the single bench of Justice Prakash Padia from 2 pm onwards. With regard to this, all eyes will be fixed on the Allahabad High Court along with Varanasi.

It is for the Allahabad High Court to decide whether the case filed 31 years ago in 1991, in the district court of Varanasi can be heard now or not. The Muslim side says that under the Central Religious Worship Act of 1991, a suit cannot be filed against any other religious place except Ayodhya. Under this Act, at the time of independence of the country, the status of religious places as on August 15, 1947, will remain the same.

Read | Gyanvapi Masjid complex videography to begin today, mosque management on board

Along with this, the decision of the High Court can also come on some other points related to this dispute. The Gyanvapi Masjid Management Committee and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board have filed three petitions each related to a dispute. Six petitions are being heard simultaneously in the High Court. After the completion of hearing on four of these petitions, the High Court has reserved its judgment.

Hearing is going on from the District Court Varanasi on the order of getting the survey done by ASI given on April 8 last year. The High Court had stayed the SI's survey on September 9, 2021 after several months of hearing. The matter is to be heard in a single bench of Justice Prakash Padia.

Read | BREAKING: Varanasi court delivers verdict in Gyanvapi Masjid case, says 'survey to continue till May 17'

Peaceful survey

In Varanasi, Special Advocate Commissioner Vishal Singh said that on the orders of the court, the survey process was completed peacefully. There was no obstacle in the survey. The survey report is confidential and cannot be made public as of now.

Earlier, while going for the survey, Singh had said that along with him, Supreme Court advocate Rajendra Nath Pandey would also be present in the mosque premises during the survey. According to Singh, every effort will be made that the survey is completed on time and the report should be presented in the court on May 17.

Key points on hearing

The Varanasi Court has instructed the team to complete the survey of Gyanvapi mosque by May 17 and present a detailed report before it.

The survey team is led by court-appointed Commissioners and accompanied by lawyers of both sides, police officers and the District Magistrate.

Allahabad High Court will hear the petition of the Central Sunni Waqf Board and Intazamiya Committee at 2 pm today.

HC has been hearing the case since last year and the Muslim side has been demanding to quash the petition by the Hindu side in Varanasi court.

A plea by the Intazamia committee seeking a ban on the ongoing survey is also pending in the Supreme Court.

What is the case?

A petition was filed in the year 1991 in the Varanasi court where the petitioners, local priests, sought permission to worship in the Gyanvapi Mosque area.

Petitioners said that the Mosque was built on the orders of Aurangzeb by demolishing a part of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple during his reign in the 16th century.

A Varanasi-based lawyer, Vijay Shankar Rastogi, filed a petition in the lower court claiming illegality in the construction of the Gyanvapi Masjid.

He sought an archaeological survey of the mosque. This came in December 2019 after the Supreme Court verdict in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute.

The District Court Varanasi in April 2021 directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to carry out the survey and submit its report.

Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board and the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee that runs the Gyanvapi Mosque contested the petition and opposed survey.