Varanasi: Stating that the plea by the five Hindu women petitioners for worshipping Hindu gods and goddesses inside the Gyanvapi mosque premises as ‘maintainable,’ a Varanasi court on Monday rejected the Anjuman Islamia Masjid Committee’s plea challenging the maintainability suit filed under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC).
A single bench of Judge AK Vieshvesh hearing the plea delivered the verdict today posting the next hearing for September 22nd. Iqbal Ahmed, representing mosque authorities said that they would move the HC against the order on maintainability.
Ahead of the hearing on Monday, security was heightened and a flag march was carried out by the Lucknow Police in order to maintain law and order ahead of the ruling. Security personnel were deployed outside Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is located next to the mosque. Varanasi Assistant Commissioner Santosh Kumar Singh said that more than 2,000 officers have been deployed to maintain law and order.
Five women had filed a petition seeking permission to worship the Shivling found during the videographic survey of the centuries-old mosque.