In force: The police stand guard during the video survey at the Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi on Monday.PTI-
A local court in Varanasi on Monday ordered that a portion of the Gyanvapi Mosque premises be sealed after lawyers representing five Hindu women petitioners claimed that a Shivling was found in the ablution water tank of the mosque on the concluding day of a video inspection led by a court commissioner.
The caretakers of the mosque, however, said it was not a Shivling but part of a stone fountain in the wazu khana (ablution tank) of the mosque. They said they would file an objection to the civil court’s order and challenge in a higher court the “one-sided” sealing of a portion of the mosque premises.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday the plea of the management of the mosque against the survey. A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and P.S. Narasimha would be hearing the plea of the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the affairs of mosque. The written order, passed on Friday by a Bench headed by Chief Justice N.V, Ramana, had ordered the listing of the plea before a Bench headed by Justice Chandrachud.
The court commissioner appointed by a civil judge is mandated to submit a report on Tuesday. The inspection sessions lasted for 135 hours over three days, officials said.
After the inspection, Hari Shankar Jain, a lawyer for the Hindu petitioners, submitted an application in the court of the civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar claiming that a Shivling was found.
Stating that it was an “important piece of evidence”, Mr. Jain demanded that the area be sealed off and entry prohibited.
Judge Diwakar admitted the application and directed District Magistrate of Varanasi Kaushal Raj Sharma to seal the area immediately and prohibit entry of all persons. The court also directed the official, the CRPF commandant and the Police Commissioner to protect and secure the sealed area.
While Vishnu Jain, another lawyer for the petitioners, claimed that a Shivling measuring 12 feet by 4 feet in diameter and three feet deep was found at the ablution tank, his colleague Subash Nandan Chaturvedi said the court commissioner had got the water of the tank drained. “There we found all the evidence we had claimed. The symbols of Hindu religion and culture were found on those premises,” Mr. Chaturvedi told presspersons.
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