Gyanvapi survey to resume today
VARANASI : The court-ordered survey of the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi will resume at 8am on Saturday and continue till noon. The court has asked for a detailed report of the survey on May 17.
The resumption will come two days after the court of the civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar on Thursday decided not to change the advocate commissioner Ajai Kumar Mishra after hearing a petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee seeking his removal and alleging that he was biased. Instead of removing him, the court appointed special advocate commissioner Vishal Singh and assistant advocate commissioner Ajai Pratap Singh to assist the advocate commissioner. The court-appointed advocate commissioner Ajai Kumar Mishra, special advocate commissioner Vishal Singh and assistant advocate commissioner Ajai Pratap Singh will restart the survey on Saturday, said Sudhir Tripathi, one of the advocates of the petitioners who have sought permission for daily worship at the Maa Shringar Sthal in the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex.
The survey includes videography and inspection of the Gyanvapi complex premises.
Advocate commissioner Ajai Kumar Mishra served a notice each regarding the survey of the Gyanvapi complex to the petitioners, including Rakhi Singh, Manju Vyas, Sita Sahoo, Laxmi Devi, Rekha Pathak, and the parties in the case including U.P. State through the chief secretary, Varanasi district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma, commissioner of police, Varanasi, A Satish Ganesh and Anzuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque. The notice asks them to be present during the survey and cooperate with the proceedings so that the survey can be completed successfully.
Assistant advocate commissioner Ajai Pratap Singh said, “We will reach (the Gyanvapi Complex) at 8am for conducting the proceedings of the survey.”
The survey will be conducted as ordered by the court, he said. Videography will be done to gather facts and evidence.
District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma on Friday held a meeting with all the parties (plaintiffs and defendants) and asked them to cooperate in maintaining the peace.
“All the parties were called for the meeting regarding the proceedings of the commission which have to start on Saturday at 8am. It has to take place from 8am to 12 noon on Saturday. We appealed to the people to cooperate in the proceedings and help maintain peace in the city,” said Sharma. All the parties assured cooperation during the survey, he said.
A person aware of the issue said that a notice was served to Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee asking it to provide the keys of the locks put on the premises of the Gyanvapi complex, if it possesses them (the keys).
For its part, the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee on Friday challenged the order for the survey of Gyanvapi mosque in the Supreme Court . SM Yasin, joint secretary of the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Commitee, said, “We have filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the order of survey of the Gyanvapi mosque.”
The Supreme Court has declined to immediately stop the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, saying the matter would have to be considered in due course. Earlier in the day, the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee said it was planning to move the Allahabad high court against the local court’s order for the videography survey of the Gyanvapi complex survey. Meanwhile, a large number of Muslims offered namaz at the Gyanvapi mosque on Friday. Security of the Gyanvapi complex has been upgraded in view of the survey.
Last week, the survey hit a hurdle on May 7 as the advocate commissioner and his team were unable to enter the Gyanvapi premises due to opposition from lawyers representing the Masajid committee and people associated with it, said another advocate associated with the matter.