The Supreme Court on Friday demanded a response from the Gyanvapi mosque committee in Varanasi on a Hindu petition to conduct an ASI survey of the sealed part of the mosque where a “shivling” was allegedly discovered in May 2022.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan issued a notice to the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masajid, requesting a response within two weeks to a Hindu petition. On May 16, 2022, during a court-ordered survey of the Gyanvapi grounds, a building discovered in the wazukhana Anjuman (ablution pond) region was claimed to be a “shivling” by the Hindu
Senior lawyer Shyam Divan, together with advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, stated that they had applied to consolidate all proceedings and move them from Varanasi District Court to Allahabad High Court. Anjuman Intezamia Masajid, requesting a response within two weeks to a Hindu petition.
Senior counsel Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the mosque management committee, argued that the appeal filed by the Masjid committee, which questions the maintainability of the suits as forbidden by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991, should be heard immediately.