Gyanvapi Mosque row: No hearing in Varanasi court today due to lawyers' strike

VARANASI: The hearing on the Gyanvapi Mosque matter will not be held in Varanasi court today due to the strike of lawyers. "I have received phone calls from general secretary and I have been told that several petitions have come for admission. Gyanvapi Mosque matter is very important, so all the members of the executive have been called," Dhirendra Nath Sharma, Benaras Bar Association President told ANI.

"Unless we hold a meeting, we will not be in a position to grant permission to anyone. But I would like to say clearly that even if we grant permission, it will be done only after 2 pm," said Sharma. Bar Association has an objection to a notice issued by the Uttar Pradesh government to the lawyers. Lawyers are holding a statewide strike over the matter. Advocate Madan Mohan Yadav, a lawyer for the plaintiff, demanded the Bar Association to allow important proceedings to be heard on Wednesday itself.

"We have moved an application (at Varanasi court) seeking permission from Bar Association to let the hearing continue," Advocate Yadav said. Following the strike by lawyers, the Muslim side sought two days' time from the court to file their objection plea.

Notably, the Court Commissioner has also been granted two days' time by the court on Tuesday to file his report. Meanwhile, an application has been filed in Varanasi court to demolish the wall beside wazukhana where a Shivling is claimed to be found during the survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque premises, said lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side on Wednesday. The Varanasi civil court on Tuesday removed the Advocate-Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra from the panel formed to survey the Gyanvapi mosque.

The court-appointed special Commission has also received two-more days to submit the survey report. The three-day-long court-monitored videography survey of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi concluded on Monday. The Hindu petitioner in the case, Sohan Lal Arya on Monday claimed that the committee found a Shivling at the complex. Arya, who accompanied the court commission for the mosque survey, said that they have found "conclusive evidence".

The Supreme Court heard the plea seeking a stay on the survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi on Tuesday and observed that till the next date of hearing Varanasi District Majistrate will ensure that the Shivling area will be protected but it will not impede access of Muslims to the mosque for prayers.

The President of the Hindu Sena, Vishnu Gupta on Tuesday filed an intervention application seeking directions for dismissal of the petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Management Committee challenging the videography survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex, which is adjacent to the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi.

After the conclusion of the survey, the Varanasi court ordered the District Magistrate of Varanasi, Kaushal Raj Sharma, "to seal the area where the Shivling was found and to bar people from going to the place." In its order, the court said that the DM, police commissioner and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandant Varanasi will be responsible for the security of the sealed area.