UP: Gyanvapi survey & videography to start on Saturday

VARANASI: Following the court directive on Thursday, the survey and videography of Gyanvapi premises begin on Saturday.
A meeting of both sides was held at the office of ACP Chetganj on Friday to finalise the survey plan. After the meeting, the district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma informed that as per the directive of the court, the survey will be conducted from 8am to 12 noon from Saturday. Both sides have appealed people to maintain peace and harmony in the city.
From the Anjuman Intezamiya Masjid side, the meeting was attended by Mufti-e-Banaras Maulana Abdul Batin Nomani and others. Besides, the lawyers of both sides, the commissioner of city police, A Satish Ganesh, was also present in the meeting.
In the Shringar Gauri worship case, the court of the civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar on Thursday rejected the request of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (AIM) for changing the advocate commissioner, and ordered that Ajay Kumar Mishra would continue as advocate commissioner. Besides, the court also appointed two additional advocates to assist the advocate commissioner – Vishal Singh as special advocate commissioner and Ajay Pratap Singh as assistant advocate commissioner. The court also directed the district administration to ensure that the survey is not delayed and asked them to submit the report on May 17. Anyone who tries to stall the survey should be dealt with sternly, the court said.
As per the court’s directive on April 26, the advocate commissioner had started the work of survey and videography on the Gyanvapi premises on May 6 in presence of both parties amidst protests. But the survey was stalled on May 7 due to a protest by AIM, which also filed a petition in the court on the same day, requesting for change of advocate commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra while accusing him of working under the pressure of the plaintiffs.
The hearing took place in the court till Wednesday and the court issued its order on the AIM’s petition on Thursday afternoon making it clear that the advocate commissioner would not be changed but he would be assisted by two more advocates to complete the survey. The court has also made it clear that the survey process would not be hampered in case of absence of any advocate.
The court directed the district magistrate and the commissioner of police that it will be their personal responsibility to get the commission proceedings completed. The DGP and the chief secretary were directed to supervise so that the administrative officers of the district do not make any excuse to postpone the commission proceedings.
The plaintiffs of the Shringar Gauri worship case are Rakhi Singh of Delhi, Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak, all natives of Varanasi, who filed the petition on April 18, 2021, seeking permission for daily worship and performing rituals at the idols of Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesh, Lord Hanuman and Nandi and stopping the opponents from causing any damage to the statues. The respondents of the case include Uttar Pradesh government, Anjuman Intezamiya Masjid and others.