Gyanvapi Case: Allahabad High Court Defers Hearing on ASI Survey Plea of Wazukhana Area Till July 20
By Rajesh Pandey
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday postponed the hearing in the matter seeking an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) examination of the Wazukhana area inside the Gyanvapi Mosque complex, excluding the disputed structure claimed by the Hindu side to be a Shivling and described by the Muslim side as a fountain.
The next hearing in the case has now been scheduled for July 20.
The matter is being heard by Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, who is examining a civil revision petition filed by Rakhi Singh, one of the petitioners in the ongoing dispute before a Varanasi court.
During the proceedings, lawyers representing different parties informed the court that issues connected to the case are currently under consideration before the Supreme Court of India.
Taking note of this development, the high court decided to defer further hearing in the matter.
The petition relates to a demand for a scientific survey by the Archaeological Survey of India of the Wazukhana, or ablution pond, area situated within the mosque premises, while leaving out the disputed structure at the centre of the controversy.
Earlier, the high court had directed the petitioner’s counsel to place on record a supplementary affidavit containing details of an application previously filed by another plaintiff, Laxmi Devi.
That earlier plea had sought a scientific investigation of the protected area and was subsequently considered by the apex court in 2023.
The present civil revision petition was moved by Rakhi Singh, challenging an October 21, 2023, order passed by the Varanasi district judge.
In that order, the lower court had declined to instruct the ASI to survey the Wazukhana area, except for the structure referred to by Hindu litigants as a Shivling inside the mosque premises.
Rakhi Singh is also one of the plaintiffs in the Shringar Gauri Worship Case currently pending before the Varanasi court, where Hindu petitioners have sought the right to worship at the site.
