Both Hindu and Muslim parties involved in the Gyanvapi dispute have rejected the Supreme Court's mediation initiative, stating that the matter should be resolved through judicial adjudication. This decision came during a session at a Varanasi court, where both sides expressed their preference for a court verdict over an out-of-court settlement.
Efforts to resolve three major religious site disputes in Uttar Pradesh - Gyanvapi, Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah, and Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid - through out-of-court settlements have failed, with all parties insisting on judicial adjudication.
The court fixed December 11 as the next date of hearing in the matter, Yadav said.
The plea filed by the Hindu side has stated that the cellar's roof is very old and weak.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J P Nadda and several other top leaders of the NDA.
In a major victory for the Hindu side, a Varanasi court on Wednesday allowed Hindu devotees to offer prayers inside the 'Vyas ka Tekhana' area inside 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'
District judge A K Vishvesh on Friday directed the ASI to conduct a detailed scientific survey -- including excavations, wherever necessary -- to determine if the mosque in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh is built upon a temple.
The district court in Varanasi fixed July 12 as the next date for hearing the maintainability of the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex case as the Muslim side presented its arguments on Monday.
Subhashini Yadav, a social worker, said she is taking the responsibility of carrying on the fight of the 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar, as her father Sharad Yadav has always supported it.
The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday urged a Varanasi court not to make its Gyanvapi mosque complex survey report public for at least four more weeks, according to the lawyer for the Hindu side.
The committee argued that only the Waqf Board has the right to hear any matter pertaining to the mosque.
Earlier on Wednesday, the district court ruled that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in a cellar of the Gyanvapi Masjid, a significant development in the legal battle over the mosque adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
A Varanasi court on Tuesday fixed February 15 for the hearing of a petition seeking a survey of all closed basements in the Gyanvapi mosque complex by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
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.
The ASI on Wednesday urged the court not to make its report public for at least four more weeks.
To maintain law and order, he said, the entire city has been divided into sectors which have been allocated police force as per their requirement.
The ASI had on Wednesday urged the court not to make its Gyanvapi complex survey report public for at least four more weeks, citing the December 19 judgment of the Allahabad high court.
A district court hearing the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex case in Varanasi reserved its judgment till September 12 as both the Hindu and Muslim sides concluded their arguments on the maintainability of the suit on Wednesday.
According to the counsel for the Hindu side Madan Mohan Yadav, the ASI sought more time due to non-availability of the technical report.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) began working on a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi premises in Varanasi on Friday to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.
The Allahabad high court reserved its judgment on Friday in a petition challenging the maintainability of a suit seeking 'restoration' of a temple at the site of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
The court said the parties shall give an affidavit to keep the report with them and not make it public after getting the report.
A fresh plea seeking permission to worship the "Shivling" claimed to have been found on the mosque premises during a videography survey ordered by a lower court was also filed.
Prayers were performed in a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi on Wednesday night following court orders allowing the resumption of a practice said to have been discontinued three decades back, Kashi Vishwanath temple trust president said.
A Varanasi court on Thursday reserved till October 21 its order on a plea seeking inclusion of the Gyanvapi mosque's 'wazookhana' in the ongoing Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the mosque complex.
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.
The court has also directed all concerned parties to file objections to the report submitted by the commission that surveyed the mosque premises.
Chhatrapati Yadav, the MLA from Khagaria Sadar, has shot off a letter to Congress high command, demanding that he be considered, by virtue of his caste, for a berth in the new cabinet headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
In the appeal filed before the high court, it has been pleaded that the Hindu side's suit itself is barred by order 7 rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code, Naqvi said.
A 30-member Archaeological Survey of India team halted a survey here of the Gyanvapi mosque -- just hours after beginning the exercise Monday morning -- following a Supreme Court order.
Advocate Madan Mohan Yadav, who is representing the Hindu petitioners, said, "The report in sealed cover was placed before the court by the ASI's standing counsel Amit Srivastava."
A mosque committee member said it is waiting for the Supreme Court ruling on the matter but till then it will cooperate with the district court.
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.
A Patna court has directed the police to lodge an FIR against RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, his MP sister Misa Bharti and some other political figures on the complaint of a person who has alleged he was duped of Rs 5 crore with the promise of a Lok Sabha ticket in the 2019 general elections.
Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders, including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, waved at the large crowd as the procession wound its way through Varanasi's roads.
Cutting across party lines, political leaders welcomed the government's decision to confer Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian honour, on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya.
The Banaras Bar Association and Central Bar Association, Varanasi had decided to boycott work as they were upset over the remarks of a Special Secretary against lawyers because of which the hearing did not take place in the court, according to advocate Abhay Yadav, representing the Muslim side in the case.
Upset about being snubbed by INDIA, Nitish Kumar is weighing his political options. BJP would like him back knowing that it would jolt the Opposition alliance, perhaps irreversibly.
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.
