Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath dispute: Varanasi Court reserves order on Muslim party's challenge to maintainability of suit

In the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath dispute, a Varanasi court on Wednesday reserved its order in a plea by the Muslim party challenging the maintainability of the suit filed by Hindu parties seeking worship rights inside the Gyanvapi mosque. .District Judge Dr AK Vishvesha today completed the hearing and is likely to pronounce his verdict on September 12, 2022. The present plea was filed under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) by the Committee of Management of Anjuman Intezamia Masajid.The Gyanvapi mosque has been embroiled in dispute after Hindu devotees approached civil court claiming right to worship inside the premises of the mosque, on the ground that it was a Hindu temple and still houses Hindu deities.The civil court ordered a survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque by an advocate commissioner. The advocate commissioner then conducted the survey, videographed the same and submitted a report to the civil court..The Muslim parties meanwhile filed an application under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC challenging the maintainability of the suit on ground that the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which was introduced at the height of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, seeks to protect the status of all religious structures as they stood on August 15, 1947..Section 4 of the Act states that the religious character of a place of worship existing on August 15, 1947 shall continue to be the same as it existed on that day. It bars courts from entertaining cases regarding such places of worship. The provision further states that such cases already pending in courts would stand abated..The suit before the civil court was, however, transferred to the District Judge by the Supreme Court on May 20 in view of the sensitivity of the issue involved.The Hindu parties then contended before the District Court that without taking into account the survey report, the maintainability of the suit cannot be decided, since the nature of the religious structure is the subject matter of the dispute.The District Court had then asked the parties to the case to file their objections to the advocate commissioner's survey report.