Allahabad HC adjourns hearing in Gyanvapi mosque case till November 10

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing on a plea seeking a survey by the ASI of the 'wazukhana' area except for an alleged shivling inside the Gyanvapi mosque at Varanasi and fixed November 10 for the next hearing.

When the matter was taken up on Tuesday, a single bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal was informed that the interim order passed by the Supreme Court is still operating.

In its interim order in the case of Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay vs. Union of India and others, the apex court had directed that no court across the country will pass any effective interim orders or final orders including orders for a survey of a religious place.

The top court had also directed that though fresh suits may be filed, no suits would be registered and no proceedings shall be undertaken therein till its further orders.

The petition has been filed challenging an order of a Varanasi district judge passed on October 21, 2023 which refused to direct the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to survey the wuzukhana (ablution) area except for the structure which the Hindu side calls a shivling and the Muslims describe as a fountain inside the Gyanvapi mosque located adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

A civil revision petition has been filed by Rakhi Singh, one of the plaintiffs, before the court challenging the district judge's order refusing to direct the ASI to undertake a survey of the wazukhana area except for the alleged shivling inside the Gyanvapi mosque.

In her revision petition, Singh pleaded that the survey of the wuzukhana area is necessary in the interest of justice. The revision petition has further said that the ASI survey of the wazukhana area is necessary so that the religious character of the entire property could be determined.

The ASI has already conducted a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi complex and has also submitted its report to the Varanasi district judge.