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Report submitted in sealed cover

Varanasi: Gyanvapi video survey report submitted to court in sealed cover

A chip with videos and photographs of the filming was also handed over, SC to hear case on Friday

Our Bureau, Agencies New Delhi, Varanasi Published 19.05.22, 10:48 AM
Gyanvapi mosque

Gyanvapi mosque PTI

A commission appointed by a Varanasi court to conduct a video survey of the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex submitted its report on Thursday, but the Supreme Court asked the local court to stop hearings till Friday when it would take up the case again.

Special Advocate Commissioner Vishal Singh submitted the report of the survey work carried out on May 14, 15 and 16 in the court of the District Civil Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar.

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The report, in three folders, was submitted in a sealed cover. A chip with videos and photographs of the filming was also handed over, Vishal Singh, the court-appointed commissioner, told NDTV.

The Varanasi court was, however, told not to pass any orders for now by the Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition by the mosque committee challenging the Gyanvapi complex filming.

The Supreme Court said it would take up the case on Friday after lawyers for the Hindu petitioners asked for an adjournment. The SC bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, Surya Kant and P.S. Narashima was informed by advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain that Hari Shankar Jain, the lead counsel for the Hindu devotees in the civil suit in the case, was indisposed.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain urged the court to take up the matter for hearing on Friday.

In Varanasi, Special advocate commissioner Singh told the court of the District Civil Judge that advocate Madan Mohan Yadav was representing the Hindu side in the case. Yadav said that Ajay Mishra, who was removed by the court as the advocate commissioner, filed a report late Wednesday evening on the survey conducted by him on May 6 and 7.

After removing Mishra on Tuesday, the court had appointed Vishal Singh as the special advocate commissioner and Ajay Pratap Singh as the assistant advocate commissioner. The reconstituted commission had carried out the survey on May 14, 15 and 16.

The mosque is located close to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple and the local court is hearing a plea by a group of women seeking permission for daily prayers before the idols on its outer walls.

One of the lawyers involved in the filming at the mosque has claimed that a "Shivling" was found inside a pond traditionally used for "Wazoo" or Islamic purification rituals before namaz.

The Supreme Court has ordered that if there are claims of a "Shivling" found in the complex, the area should be protected but Muslims must not be stopped from praying at the mosque.

The court will hear a petition by three of the original petitioners asking for the removal of debris gathered against the mosque wall facing a Nandi idol at the Kashi Vishwanath temple, to access and film more areas to establish what they believe are parts of a temple, ndtv.com also reported.

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