Plea for judicial inquiry into structure found in Gyanvapi mosque dismissed by Allahabad HC

LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court dismissed a PIL on Tuesday seeking a judicial inquiry by a High Court or Supreme Court judge into the recently discovered structure at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.

The Lucknow bench comprising Justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Subhash Vidyarthi passed the order on a petition filed by Sudhir Singh and others.

On June 10, the bench had expressed its reluctance to hear the PIL as it lacked territorial jurisdiction.

The court refused to consider the PIL and informed that a detailed order would be issued later. The Hindu side claimed that a Shivling had been found during a videography survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid-Shringar Gauri complex.

The claim was disputed by the mosque committee members who said it was part of the water fountain mechanism in the wazookhana reservoir, used by devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering namaz.

The PIL was filed by Sudhir Singh, Ravi Mishra, Mahant Balak Das, Shivendra Pratap Singh, Markendey Tiwari, Rajiv Rai and Atul Kumar, claiming themselves to be devotees of Lord Shiva.

The petitioners had made the central government, the Uttar Pradesh government and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) opposite parties in the matter.

Appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, Chief Standing Counsel (in-charge) Abhinav Narayan Trivedi had vehemently opposed the PIL, arguing that it was not maintainable here as Varanasi falls in the territorial jurisdiction of the Allahabad High Court instead of the Lucknow bench.

He had stressed that since the Supreme Court was already seized of the matter, the same plea cannot be presented here.

The counsel for the central government and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), S M Royekwar had also opposed the PIL.

Earlier, the petitioners' counsel Ashok Pandey had submitted that the contested claims over the structure have been leading to disputes between communities not only within the country but across the world.

The petitioners urged the High Court to direct the ASI and the governments to appoint a committee headed by a retired or sitting judge of the Supreme Court or High Court to ascertain the truth about the structure.

With PTI inputs