Gyanvapi Mosque Case Timeline: Varanasi Court To Hear Gyanvapi Case Today, Arguments To Continue On Maintainability

The Varanasi court will hold a hearing on Monday in the case in which Hindu petitioners have sought permission for daily prayers before the idols on outer walls of the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex.

In its last hearing on May 30, the Muslim petitioners had challeged the maintainability of the Hindu petitioners' plea.

"Muslim side will continue with its arguments. According to them, the case is not maintainable, but we've said that it's maintainable. Our demand to grant worship there is legally valid," said Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, appearing for the Hindus, according to ANI.

The Muslim side argued in the last hearing that the petition is not maintainable as the Places of Worship Act 1991 prohibits conversion of any place of worship and mandates the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.

The Gyanvapi mosque is located close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. A Varanasi civil court had ordered the survey of the mosque complex while hearing a petition by five Hindu women seeking permission for daily prayers before the idols on its outer walls. It was claimed that a shivling was found in the mosque compound during the survey.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, the counsel for the Hindu side, told reporters in May that the court has categorically stated that the report on the videography survey of the complex will be made available to all the parties, but only the court will tell the conditions for this.

Earlier, the Supreme Court on May 20 transferred the civil suit filed by Hindu devotees on Gyanvapi mosque from civil judge (senior division) to district judge of Varanasi, citing complexities and sensitivity of the case and saying it is better for a senior judicial officer to handle it.

The apex court directed the district judge to first decide the application under Order 7 Rule 11 of CPC on maintainability filed by the Mosque committee saying the civil suit is barred by a law of Parliament.

The apex court said that its earlier interim order of May 17 directing protection of the area where "shivling" is said to be found and allowing Muslims to offer namaz in mosque premises shall remain in operation till the maintainability of the suit is decided by the district judge and thereafter for eight weeks to allow the aggrieved parties to approach the higher court.  

The bench also directed the district magistrate to make adequate arrangements for "wazu" (ablution) for the Muslims coming for offering namaz in the mosque in consultation with the parties involved in the dispute. 

In Varanasi on May 19, the commission appointed by a district court to conduct a videographic survey of the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex submitted its report. 

Special Advocate Commissioner Vishal Singh submitted the report of the survey work carried out on May 14-16 in the court of the District Civil Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, said advocate Madan Mohan Yadav, who is representing the Hindu side in the case. He added that Ajay Mishra, who was removed by the court as the advocate commissioner, had filed a report on Wednesday on the survey conducted by him on May 6-7.

Earlier, a Varanasi court on May 16 ordered the spot in the Gyanvapi complex to be sealed where a "shivling" was reportedly found during the videography and survey of the complex.

Madan Mohan Yadav, an advocate of the Hindu side, claimed on Monday that the survey team found shivling in the complex near "wazookhana" — a place inside a mosque where people wash hands before offering namaaz.

The Supreme Court on May 17 began hearing petitions filed by members of the management committee of Gyanvapi mosque, challenging the survey as being in violation oft he Places of Worship Act.

Here is a brief history of the case

Petitioner: The petitioner says that the self-styled Jyotirling of Lord Vishwanath in Kashi (Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh) is in the Gyanvapi complex. The petitioner also claimed Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had destroyed a portion of the Kashi Vishwanath temple in 1669 and built a mosque named Gyanvapi Masjid. The petitioner wants the court to declare that Muslims have no right to occupy the Gyanvapi Masjid site and their entry should be barred.

Defence: The defence says that there was no temple in the Gyanvapi complex and the mosque is standing on the site from the very beginning.

Here we look at the timeline of events in Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque Complex case that is making headlines again.

Timeline:

In 1991, the first petition in the case was filed in Varanasi court by Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar. The petitioner had sought permission to worship in Gyanvapi complex. 

He had placed three demands before the court including that the court should declare the entire Gyanvapi complex as a part of the Kashi temple. 

Besides, he also sought eviction of Muslims from the complex area and also sought mosque in the complex to be demolished. The petitioner had also pleaded before the court that Hindus should be given permission to rebuild the temple.

In 1998, Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee filed a case at the Allahabad High Court. The committee in their plea before the court asserted that the temple-mosque land dispute could not be adjudicated by a civil court as it was barred by the law. It was on the directions of the high court that the proceedings in the lower court got stayed which continued for the past 22 years.

In 2019, a person named Rastogi filed a plea on behalf of Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar in Varanasi district court. The petitioner demanded that an archaeological survey of the entire Gyanvapi mosque complex should be carried out. In his plea, the petitioner mentioned himself as the "next friend" of Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar.

In 2020, Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee opposed the petition seeking ASI survey of the entire Gyanvapi complex. In the same year, the petitioner again approached the lower court with a petition, requesting to resume the hearing as the Allahabad High Court had not extended the stay further.

Now, the court is hearing a petition by five Hindu women seeking daily prayers before the idols on the mosque's outer wall. Following the survey and the reported finding of a shivling inside the complex, the court has now ordered the spot in the complex to be sealed.

(With PTI inputs)