The Allahabad High Court has postponed the hearing of a petition regarding the survey of the ‘wazukhana’ area within the Gyanvapi mosque, adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, until December 17. The decision to delay the hearing follows the anticipation of a related matter being addressed by the Supreme Court on December 16.
The adjournment was ordered by Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal in response to a civil revision plea filed by Rakhi Singh, a plaintiff in the ongoing Shringar Gauri worship suit before the Varanasi court. The plea challenges an earlier decision dated October 21, 2023, by the Varanasi district judge, which declined to mandate the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey of the ‘wazukhana’ area, excluding the area covering the ‘shivling’ purportedly discovered inside the mosque.
Rakhi Singh contends that a thorough survey of the ‘wazukhana’ is essential for achieving a fair judicial outcome that could potentially benefit both plaintiffs and defendants. The plea emphasizes the feasibility of conducting this survey using non-invasive methods, in line with directives previously issued by the Supreme Court.
The Gyanvapi mosque management committee has responded with a counter-affidavit stating that the issues surrounding both the ‘wazukhana’ and the alleged ‘shivling’ are currently under consideration by the Supreme Court, signaling the complex legal intertwining of these religious and archaeological inquiries.
This legal contest comes against the backdrop of a previously conducted scientific survey by the ASI of the entire Gyanvapi complex. The findings of this survey have already been submitted to the Varanasi district judge, adding another layer of complexity to the ongoing legal and communal discussions surrounding the site.
