Varanasi court issues notice to masjid panel on plea for carbon-dating of structure

District court dismisses application filed by Masjid panel seeking eight weeks’ time to appeal against September 12 order

Hindu women plaintiffs accompanied by their advocates after a hearing of the Gyanvapi Masjid-Shringar Gauri Temple case at Varanasi District Court, on Thursday, September 22, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI

A Varanasi district court on Thursday issued notice to the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee on an application of Hindu worshippers, who have now sought carbon-dating of the disputed structure known to have been found inside the premises of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. 

District judge A.K. Vishvesha is currently hearing a suit filed by five Hindu women, who are seeking the right to worship inside the premises of the Gyanvapi mosque all-year round. On September 12, the court had rejected an application of the Masjid panel challenging the maintainability of the suit, and held that it is worth being tried. 

On Thursday, while admitting the application for carbon-dating of the structure, the district court also dismissed an application filed by the Masjid panel seeking eight weeks’ time to appeal against the September 12 order.

Video survey

The structure in question was filmed as part of the video survey commissioned by a civil court that was earlier hearing the matter. However, before the survey report could be submitted, the court had ordered the sealing of the mosque based on an application by an advocate. 

Following this, parts of the video survey were leaked to the public in violation of court orders, prompting the Hindu side to claim the structure was a Shiv ling, with the Masjid panel insisting that it was part of the fountain in the mosque’s wuzu khana.

While hearing the application for carbon-dating the structure in question, the court sought the Masjid panel’s objections to it and posted the matter for next hearing on September 29. 

While the survey of the mosque was ordered by a civil court, the Masjid panel had moved the Supreme Court challenging this order, following which the top court had directed the district judge to hear the case. 

The district judge had decided that he would first hear the challenge to the maintainability of the suit — a verdict in which matter was delivered on September 12 — before moving on to aspects of the court-commissioned survey.