ASI plea for not disclosing Gyanvapi report for 4 weeks partially allowed
The court fixed January 24 as the next date of hearing on this plea and three other pleas related to the ASI survey report. The ASI had told the court that it had to submit a copy of the sealed report in the court of civil judge (senior division), fast track court (FTC), Varanasi, in compliance with an Allahabad high court order.
VARANASI: The Varanasi district court on Saturday partially allowed Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) application, praying to the court to not make its Gyanvapi mosque complex survey report public for at least four more weeks. The court fixed January 24 as the next date of hearing on this plea and three other pleas related to the ASI survey report.
Standing government counsel Amit Kumar Srivastava, who filed the application on behalf of the ASI, said, “ The court partially allowed our plea and fixed January 24 for the next hearing.”
Srivastava said that the court said that in its view it seemed appropriate that instead of disposing of the four pleas immediately, it would be justified to do this after the survey report is filed by the ASI in the original suit No 610/1991 in the court of civil judge (senior division), Fast Track Court, Varanasi.The ASI filed the application on January 3 and the court initially fixed January 4 for the order.
The ASI had told the court that it had to submit a copy of the sealed report in the court of civil judge (senior division), fast track court (FTC), Varanasi, in compliance with an Allahabad high court order.
On January 4, the court fixed January 5 for the order, said standing government counsel Amit Srivastava. On Friday, the court fixed January 6 as date for the order.
The ASI had submitted the survey report in a sealed cover to the district court on December 18. On December 19, the Allahabad high court directed the ASI to submit the report on the scientific investigation/ survey work in the civil court (senior division), fast track court, Varanasi.
On Thursday (January 4), the civil judge (senior division) fast track court, Varanasi, directed the ASI to submit before it, by January 19, the same report of scientific survey of Gyanvapi mosque complex that it had submitted to the Varanasi district court on December 18, 2022.
An application was filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee (AIMC) seeking an order that the report on the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque should be kept in a sealed cover and not be given to any of the parties unless a personal undertaking on an affidavit was submitted that it would not be leaked to anyone.
The AIMC, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, filed this application whereas another was filed by four Hindu women plaintiffs’ advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, both on December 18.
On December 21, the AIMC filed another application in the Varanasi district court, urging it that if it reached the decision that a copy of the survey report should be given to Jain at his email ID, a copy of the same should also be provided to AIMC counsel Akhlaque Ahmad at his email ID.
On December 18, Jain filed an application on behalf of the four Hindu women plaintiffs in the Varanasi district court, seeking a copy of the survey report on his email.
Plea to clean tank to be heard on Jan 24
The Varanasi district court on Saturday fixed January 24 as the date of hearing a plea by the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee (AIMC), which manages Gyanvapi mosque, seeking permission for cleaning of tank (hauz) in the wazukhana of Gyanvapi mosque, the portion that was sealed on the order of a local court in May 2022.
