The Varanasi District Court will deliver its verdict on the petition seeking carbon dating of 'Shivling' allegedly found inside Gyanvapi Mosque on Friday.
Four of the five Hindu petioners in the Gyanvapi Mosque case had filed a petition seeking carbon dating of a structure inside the Gyanvapi Mosque said to be a Shivling. It was found during the court-ordered videography survey. Carbon dating is a scientific process used commonly in archaeology to understand the age of an object.
Arguments on the plea were complete on Tuesday and the court will pronounce its verdict on October 14, said District Government Counsel Mahendra Pratap Pandey.
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The Gyanvapi Mosque committee has opposed the plea for carbon dating.
Gyanvapi case, carbon dating plea explained
Five Hindu women have filed a petition seeking rights for daily prayers before the idols on the outer walls of the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi. During the initial hearing of the case, a Varanasi court —from where the case was later transferred to District Court— ordered videography survey of the mosque compound.
During the survey, it was claimed that a 'Shivling' was found close to the "wazookhana" —a small reservoir used by Muslims to perform ritual ablutions before offering namaz— in the mosque premises. It is this 'Shivling' whose carbon dating now been sought.
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One of the five petitioners has not joined the plea for carbon dating out of concerns that such a process might damage the 'Shivling'. Thhe advocate for petioners has said there would be no damage to the structure during carbon dating.
What has Gyanvapi Mosque Committee said?
Citing the original plea by the Hindu women seeking permission for yearlong praying inside the shrine, the mosque committee previously had objected to the scientific investigation plea, saying that it had nothing to do with its structure.
On September 12, the Varanasi district judge dismissed a challenge by the mosque committee that said the case by the Hindu women for year-long worship inside the mosque complex had no legal standing. Their challenge was rejected on all three counts that they had cited including the 1991 law that freezes the status of a place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.
The petitioners didn't want ownership, just the right to worship, the court ruled.
Gyanvapi case latest developments
Advocate Mumtaz Ahmed, who appeared for the Muslim side, said they told the court that carbon dating of the object cannot be done.
If the object gets damaged in the name of carbon dating, it amounts to the defiance of the order of the Supreme Court, he said.
Earlier, the Muslim side had contended that the Supreme Court had asked the Varanasi district magistrate to keep the object safe. In such a situation, getting it examined cannot be justified, they had said.
The Muslim side also said the original case is about the worship of Shringar Gauri while the structure in the mosque has nothing to do with it.
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In such a condition, neither any investigation can be done by the Archaeological Department nor a legal report be called after conducting a scientific investigation, they had said.
(With PTI inputs)
