Gyanvapi row: Varanasi court reserves verdict on plea seeking inclusion of 'wazookhana' in ASI survey

Varanasi: 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 ASI survey of the mosque complex here.

At present, the "wazookhana" (a small reservoir for Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions), where a structure claimed by Hindu litigants to be a 'Shivling' exists, is not part of the survey by the Archeological Survey of India due to a Supreme Court order protecting that spot in the complex.

The plea was filed by Rakhi Singh, one of the petitioners in Varanasi’s Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri case, in the district court.

"While completing the hearing today on the petition, District Judge AK Vishvesh reserved its order till October 21," District Government Counsel Rajesh Mishra said, Hindu side's advocate Madan Mohan Yadav said during the hearing, it was argued that without the survey of wazookhana, the truth of Gyanvapi complex cannot be revealed.

The mosque management committee, while presenting its objection to it, told the court that the area of the wazookhana was sealed on the orders of the Supreme Court and alleged that Hindu side made such a demand to put this matter on hold. Therefore, this demand of the Hindu side should not be accepted, the mosque committee said.

The ASI is carrying out a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, next to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple here, to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing temple.