Gyanvapi mosque case: Varanasi court completes hearing, reserves order

The Varanasi district court on Monday completed hearing of arguments in the the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi mosque case and reserved its order until tomorrow. District court judge AK Vishvesh heard arguments from both the Hindu and Muslim sides.
The hearing began in the court days 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 hearing got over in 45 minutes. A fresh petition seeking permission to worship the "Shivling" claimed to have been found on the Gyanvapi mosque premises during the survey ordered by a lower court was also filed.

Lawyers of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which managed the mosque, urged the court to decide first whether the Hindu petitioners' case was maintainable under Places of Worship Act, 1991. Further, raising its objections, the Muslim side namaz was being offered there since 1936.
The Hindu petitioners urged the court to include photographs and video with the survey report of the mosque complex as part of its hearing.

Advocate Vishnu Jain, representing the Hindu side, said, "The hearing was completed and the order has been kept reserved. The next date of hearing will be given. We had given an application to provide us with CD and photographs of the report submitted by the commission:

Only 23 people, including 19 counsels and four petitioners, were allowed inside the courtroom during the hearing, police said.

Former court commissioner Ajay Mishra was not allowed inside the court. According to a report in LiveLaw, court employees said only those whose name would be there in the ‘vakalatnama’ were allowed inside the court room.