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"What is the tearing hurry, this mosque has been there since the 1500.. in the meanwhile there should be an order of status quo..", the Mosque committee submitted before the Top Court today.
The Supreme Court has stayed the Varanasi District Court order allowing the plea moved by four Hindu worshippers seeking a survey of the entire Gyanvapi premises except for the Wazukhana area by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
"Having regard to the fact that order of district court was passed on Friday July 21, at 4:30 PM, we think that some breathing period should be allowed to the petitioners. We therefore direct that the district court's order SHALL NOT BE ENFORCED TILL JULY 26, 2023 5PM.", a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra has ordered.
Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi mentioned the plea today on behalf of the Mosque Committee and questioned the haste for the survey.
"This order should be stayed, why such haste..the order was passed on a Friday at 4 PM, they have started digging already. How can the SG say no excavation, I am sorry I never get carried away.. this mosque is there since 1500..", the senior counsel added.
Notably, SG Mehta, took instructions from the ASI and informed the Court that not a brick had been removed, or will be removed for a week. "What is going on right now is pictures are being taken, measurements and radar imaging", the SG added.
The district court's order was passed in an application filed in the suit pending before the local court for year-round permission to worship Hindu gods inside Gyanvapi.
The contention of the plaintiffs in the said suit is that “Asthan Lord Adi Visheshwar, Jyotirlinga” was damaged in 1669 under the orders of Mughal Ruler Aurangzeb but “Maa Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesh and other subsidiary deities” continued to exist within the ancient temple, which is claimed by Muslims to be part of the “Gyanvapi Mosque”.
The court of District Judge AK Vishwesha had reserved the verdict on the Hindu worshipper’s plea on July 15.
The Allahabad High Court has already allowed an ASI survey/ scientific survey of the alleged Shivlingam found at Gyanvapi for evaluation of its age.
The high court had tabled the verdict on May 12, 2023 in a revision petition filed by the Hindu plaintiffs against the dismissal of their application seeking a scientific probe of the Shivlingam-like structure by the District Judge.
A Shivlingam-like structure was found inside the Wazookhana of the Gyanavpi complex on May 16, 2022, during a survey by the court-appointed commission.
It is the Hindu plaintiffs' claim that the structure found inside the Wazookhana of the mosque complex is a Shivalingam, however, the claim is contested by the Muslim side who argue that it is actually a non-functioning old fountain.
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