Gyanvapi mosque case: Varanasi court completes hearing, reserves decision

Varanasi: The Varanasi district court on Monday completed the hearing of arguments in the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque case and reserved its decision until tomorrow.

Varanasi District Judge Dr. AK Vishvesha heard a civil suit in the case. "The hearing was completed and the decision has been kept reserved. The next date of hearing will be given. We had given an application to provide us with a CD and photographs of the report submitted by the commission," Advocate Vishnu Jain, representing the Hindu side told media persons.

Only 23 people, including 19 counsels and four petitioners, were allowed inside the courtroom during the hearing today, police said.
The hearing began today in Varanasi court after the Supreme Court said it would not interfere with the Gyanvapi mosque survey and transferred the case to the lower court while noting the "complexities and sensitivities involved in the matter" would require a "more senior and experienced hand".

The bench said District Judge should decide the maintainability of the civil suit in the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath on priority as sought by Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Varanasi.
Earlier in the day, a lawyer filed an intervention application in the Supreme Court seeking impleadment in the Gyanvapi mosque case stating that a mosque constructed on temple land cannot be a mosque.
The application was filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay who had earlier filed a petition challenging the Constitutional validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 (Act). (ANI)