The police had made strict security arrangements with heavy deployment of forces at gate number four of the Kashi Vishwanath temple, from where 'namazis' were allowed to enter,
The petition seeks the court's permission for worshipping the idols of the Hindu deities located on an outer wall of the mosque on a daily basis.
Shivling claim is an attempt to create communal disharmony, The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board said.
Hindu petitioners had during a court-mandated videography survey of the mosque premises claimed that a 'Shivling' was found close to the 'wazookhana', a small reservoir used by Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering the namaaz.
The Hindu side had claimed in the lower court that a Shivling was found during the videographic survey.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the civil court in Varanasi to not proceed with hearing the Gyanvapi case till it takes up the matter on Friday.
The district court in Varanasi on Monday heard the arguments on the maintainability of a plea by five Hindu women seeking permission for daily worship of the Shringar Gauri Sthal in the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex.
The Supreme Court of India is scheduled to hear a batch of petitions challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits lawsuits to reclaim a place of worship or change its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947. The pleas, including one filed by Ashwini Upadhyay, argue that these provisions violate the right to judicial remedy and create an arbitrary cut-off date. The matter will be heard in the backdrop of several ongoing cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura. The Muslim side has cited the 1991 law to argue that such suits are not maintainable. The Supreme Court had previously sought the Centre's response to Upadhyay's petition, which alleged that the law creates an "arbitrary and irrational retrospective cut-off date" for maintaining the character of places of worship.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and P S Narasimha made the important observation during an hour-long hearing of the Gyanvapi mosque dispute and said that it has dealt with provisions of the Places of Worship Act in its 2019 Ayodhya verdict and section 3 does not expressly bar ascertaining of the religious character of the place of worship.
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, an advocate said.
The Muslim side had sought 15 days' time to present its response to the Hindu petitioners' arguments as their main advocate had died of heart failure a few days ago.
In an unusual coincidence, the two judges of a Supreme Court bench hearing a plea against the survey of the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex in Varanasi have had an association with a similar kind of dispute relating to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri masjid issue as well.
The petitioners were provided the "sealed" envelopes containing the videos and photographs of the survey on Monday on the direction of the court.
The order was passed by Justice Prakash Padia, who was hearing a petition filed by Anjuman Intazamia Masazid, Varanasi.
The court also directed for completion of the survey by May 17 and submission of its report, Abhay Nath Yadav, who is representing the Gyanvapi mosque management committee, said.
At present the people are allowed to worship once in a year only, he submitted before the court.
Samajwadi Party leader and Kairana MP Iqra Choudhary has moved the Supreme Court seeking effective implementation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This move comes amidst several petitions challenging the law's validity, including those filed by the Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay. The Supreme Court, in December 2022, had restrained all courts from examining fresh suits and passing interim orders in pending cases seeking to reclaim religious places. The Act aims to maintain the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, but the dispute relating to Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was kept out of its purview. The court has listed Choudhary's plea with other pending pleas for February 17.
In view of the Supreme Court's order to the lower court not to proceed with the matter till Friday, it fixed May 23 for the next hearing, Madan Mohan Yadav, the lawyer representing the Hindu side, said.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and P S Narasimha said that it is posting for October first week hearing on the appeal of Gyanvapi mosque committee's plea against the Allahabad high court order upholding the appointment of court commissioner to survey the site.
The Allahabad high court on Tuesday extended the interim stay till September 30 on a Varanasi court order directing the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a physical survey at the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex and further proceedings in this case.
The Allahabad high court on Monday fixed November 30 for hearing a revision petition challenging the Varanasi district judge's order by which the lower court had refused the demand of carbon dating of a 'Shivling' claimed to have been found in the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
Madan Mohan Yadav, an advocate of the Hindu side, claimed the survey team found a Shivling in the complex near 'wazookhana'
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar also indicated that it may not take up the pending scheduled petitions, heard earlier by a three-judge bench, during the day as it was sitting in a combination of two judges.
The law prohibits conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.
A lawyer has 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 survey was stalled last week amid objections by the mosque committee, which claimed that the advocate commissioner appointed by the court for the survey did not have the mandate to film inside the premises.
District Judge A K Vishvesh ordered that it would continue to hear the petition seeking the right to worship in the temple.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the district magistrate, Varanasi, to ensure protection of the area where the 'Shivling' was said to have been found in a survey on Monday.
The Supreme Court ordered on Monday that no invasive work would be undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple and agreed to hear a plea moved by the mosque committee during the day.
A Varanasi court, which had ordered the videography survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, on Tuesday removed advocate commissioner Ajay Mishra on grounds of non-cooperation, an official said.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and PS Narasimha said that it is not casting any aspersion on the civil judge (senior division) who was earlier dealing with the suit.
According to the committee, the structure in question was part of a fountain in the "wazookhana", a small reservoir used by devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering namaz.
Commencing hearing on pleas challenging the constitutionality of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to reply to cross-pleas against or seeking implementation of statute.
'The new Waqf bill sows the seed for conflict in every town and village of India.'
The Mathura Shahi Masjid Eidgah Committee has approached the Supreme Court, requesting the court to prevent the central government from filing a response to a petition challenging the Places of Worship Act's constitutional validity. The committee accuses the BJP-led government of intentionally delaying its response. The court had previously issued a notice to the government in March 2021, but the government has yet to submit its reply despite numerous opportunities. The committee argues that the government's delay is intended to obstruct those opposing the challenge to the Places of Worship Act from filing their own responses. The petition also states that the pleas challenging the law's validity are scheduled for hearing on February 17, and closing the government's right to respond would serve justice. The Supreme Court previously issued a ruling in December 2022 that stopped courts from entertaining new lawsuits or issuing interim or final orders regarding the reclaiming of religious places, particularly mosques and dargahs. The ruling halted proceedings in 18 lawsuits filed by Hindu groups seeking surveys to confirm the original religious character of 10 mosques, including the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura, and the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. This decision was made in response to six petitions, including one filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, challenging various provisions of the Places of Worship Act. The 1991 law prohibits the conversion of places of worship and guarantees the preservation of their existing religious character as it stood on August 15, 1947. Notably, the dispute regarding the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was excluded from this law. There are also several cross-petitions advocating for a strict enforcement of the 1991 law to uphold communal harmony and maintain the current status of mosques that Hindu groups seek to reclaim, claiming they were temples before being destroyed by invaders.
The Hindu litigants claim the mosque holds signs suggesting that it was a temple once.
'It was a disaster on his part to give an oral remark which allowed ascertainment of the religious character of places of worship.' 'This disrupted the social harmony of the country.'
Hindu women plaintiffs who have filed a civil suit before the Varanasi court seeking declaration and asserting the right to darshan and worship Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi has referred to stand taken by the British government in a 1936 suit seeking it to be declared as Waqf property.
The Supreme Court of India will hear a plea from the mosque management committee challenging an order rejecting its petition in the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh on January 15. The Allahabad High Court had rejected the mosque committee's plea, stating that the religious character of the Shahi Idgah mosque needed to be determined. The case involves claims that the mosque was built after the demolition of a temple, a claim disputed by the mosque committee. The Supreme Court will now decide on the maintainability of the mosque committee's plea.
RLD sources said that the party chief was "taken aback" by the SP's delay in announcing his name as the candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections.
