Gyanvapi mosque row: PIL seeks panel to unravel truth of structure

LUCKNOW: A Public Interest Litigation ( PIL) seeking constitution of a committee to be headed by a Supreme Court or high court judge to ascertain the truth regarding the recently found structure in Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi has been filed in the registry of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court on Tuesday.
The PIL is likely to come up for hearing before a vacation bench of justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan and justice Subhash Vidyarthi on June 9.
The PIL has been filed by six persons – Sudhir Singh, Ravi Mishra, Mahant Balak Das, Shivendra Pratap Singh, Markendey Tiwari, Rajiv Rai and Atul Kumar – claiming to be devotees of Lord Shiva.
The petitioners have made the central government, state government and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) the opposite parties in the case.
In their plea, the petitioners have said that recently a structure emerged on the Gyanvyapi mosque premises in Varanasi, which Hindus claim to be a shivling while Muslims insist that it is a fountain.
The petitioners have demanded from the HC that it should direct the ASI and both the governments to appoint a panel to be headed by a SC or HC sitting or retired judge to find out the truth about the structure.