SC To Hear Gyanvapi Mosque Case On April 14, Allows Muslim Side To File Application

The Supreme Court will hear the case pertaining to Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque on April 14 and allowed the Muslim side to file an application before it regarding their request to allow the practice of ablution inside the mosque premises.

According to a report by Bar and Bench, Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi said, “This is a month of Ramzan and the worshippers should be able to pray inside the premises.” Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud in response asked for an application to be filed in this regard.

The bench was hearing a civil revision application filed by Hindu worshippers, challenging the October 2022 order of a civil court rejecting their plea for the scientific study of the 'Shiva Linga' found inside the Gyanvapi Mosque in May last year, the report said. 

The case began in 1991, when Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar filed the first petition in the case in Varanasi court. 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.

Last year, 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.

The Hindu side, earlier claimed that the survey team found shivling in the complex near "wazookhana" — a place inside a mosque where people wash hands before offering namaaz.

However, the Muslim side has maintained that the object was part of the water fountain mechanism at the 'wazookhana' reservoir where devotees carry out ablutions before offering namaz.

The report by Bar and Bench adds that while in November last year, the High Court sought response from the DG, ASI on whether there could be a safe evaluation of the age of the said Shiva Linga, the authority has been seeking time to file their response.