Gyanvapi Masjid Row: Supreme Court asks Varanasi trial court to not hear case till Friday

Vishnu Shankar Jain, the advocate of the Hindu side, told Supreme Court that senior advocate Hari Shankar Jain is not well and requested it to hear the Gyanvapi Mosque issue tomorrow (May 20)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has asked the trial court in Varanasi not to proceed with the Gyanvapi Mosque case till Friday, May 20. Vishnu Shankar Jain, the advocate of the Hindu side, told Supreme Court that senior advocate Hari Shankar Jain is not well and requested it to hear the Gyanvapi Mosque issue tomorrow. The Supreme Court has asked the civil court in Varanasi to not proceed with proceedings in Gyanvapi case till the top court takes up the matter on Friday at 3 pm. 

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, said several applications have been filed across the country to "seal" various mosques and in the Gyanvapi case in Varanasi, the hearing is going on and an application has been filed to "demolish" a wall around the 'wazukhana' (ablution room). Ahmadi said he cannot oppose adjournment on the grounds of health of a counsel but an undertaking should be given that Hindu devotees will not proceed with the civil court proceedings.

Advocate Vishnu said they are assuring the bench that the Hindu parties would not proceed with the hearing before the civil court at Varanasi. The bench recorded the submission and passed the order asking the civil court to not proceed with the hearing in the case till Friday, when it will hear the matter. On May 17, the top court had directed the district magistrate of Varanasi to ensure protection of an area inside the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex where a 'Shivling' is said to have been found during a survey and allowed Muslims to offer 'namaz' and perform 'religious observances'.

Meanwhile, a commission appointed by a court in Varanasi to conduct a videographic survey of the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex submitted its report on Thursday (May 19), an advocate said. Special Advocate Commissioner Vishal Singh submitted the report of the survey work carried out on May 14, 15 and 16 in the court of the District Civil Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, said advocate Madan Mohan Yadav, who is representing the Hindu side in the case.

Also, Ajay Mishra, who was removed by the court as the advocate commissioner, filed a report late Wednesday evening on the survey conducted by him on May 6 and 7, Yadav said. After removing Mishra on Tuesday, the court had appointed Vishal Singh as the special advocate commissioner and Ajay Pratap Singh as the assistant advocate commissioner. The reconstituted commission had carried out the survey on May 14, 15 and 16.