On Wednesday, the Allahabad High Court issued a notice to the Anjuman Intezamia Mosque Committee (IMAC- Muslim side), seeking its response to a plea filed by the Hindu side. The Hindu side is requesting an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the wuzukhana region within the premises of the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi.
Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal’s bench issued the notice as part of a revision plea filed by Rakhi Singh, the first plaintiff in the Shringar Gauri suit of 2022. This suit, which seeks rights to worship Shrinagar Gauri on the Gyanvapi Mosque’s premises, is currently under consideration in a Varanasi court.
Rakhi Singh has urged the High Court to direct the ASI to survey the Gyanvapi mosque’s ablution pond (wuzukhana), excluding the area where a Shivalinga is believed to be located. The purpose is to determine the religious nature of the property within the Gyanvapi compound.
In her revision plea, Rakhi Singh challenges the correctness of a decision from a Varanasi district court in October 2023, which had refused to direct the ASI to conduct such a survey. The district court, in its order, noted the Supreme Court’s directive on May 17, 2022, emphasizing the protection of the area where the ‘Shiva Linga’ was discovered.
The Varanasi court reasoned that directing the ASI to survey the area would be inappropriate, as it would contravene the Supreme Court’s directive. It also pointed out that an earlier district court order from July 21, 2023, had explicitly excluded the wuzukhana from the ASI survey in connection with the 2022 suit by the Hindu side.
Rakhi Singh emphasized in her revision plea that a survey of the wuzukhana area would benefit both the Hindu plaintiffs and Muslim defendants, aiding the court in arriving at a fair decision in the ongoing suit. She argued that the district judge made an error in the October 2023 order by claiming that the July 21, 2023, order intentionally excluded the wuzukhana area from the survey, as the application leading to the October 2023 order did not request a survey of this protected area.
It’s noteworthy that the ASI has previously conducted a comprehensive scientific survey of the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi. The ASI recently submitted a report to the Varanasi district court, affirming the existence of an ancient Hindu Temple at the site before the construction of the Gyanvapi Mosque.
