Gyanvapi panel plea on ‘Shivling’ rejected

New Delhi/Varanasi: A Varanasi court on Thursday rejected Gyanvapi Masjid committee’s objection to a petition seeking the right to worship the ‘shivling’ claimed to have been found in the mosque complex and fixed December 2 as the next date of hearing in the case.

In its order on the matter, a fast-track court has said that the petition is “maintainable.”

“Fast track court Judge Mahendra Kumar Pandey found the petition filed by Kiran Singh worth hearing and fixed December 2 for taking up the matter,” assistant district government counsel Sulabh Prakash said.

The court rejected objections filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee questioning maintainability of the plea. The petition has also sought that Gyanvapi mosque complex handed over to Hindus and Muslims be banned from the mosque complex.

Earlier this year, the ‘shivling’ was found during a video survey carried out in the complex following the orders of the lower court.

Petitioners have also sought ‘scientific investigation’ of the ‘shivling’ to determine its age. The mosque committee has objected to a scientific investigation, arguing that the case was about worshipping at a shrine inside the mosque and had nothing to do with its structure.

The mosque committee argued that the object being called a ‘shivling’ is actually a “fountain that was present for the ritual ablutions.” Another court in Varanasi is already hearing the main petition related to the Gyanvapi dispute.