Varanasi [UP]: The district court here fixed for July 21 the hearing into the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri temple case as it heard one of the plaintiffs on Tuesday.
Lawyer Man Bahadur Singh represented litigant Rakhi Singh in the court and claimed that the Muslim side is misleading and confusing the court on the Places of Worship Act and the Waqf Act.
He said in the next hearing, their argument will be completed after which the Anjuman Intezamia will present its arguments.
Rakhi Singh and others had filed a petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the mosque but the Muslim side had urged the court to dismiss the case.
Her lawyer Shivam Gaur contested the stand of the Muslim side that the case is not maintainable, saying “it is completely wrong”.
“The Places of Worship Act, Waqf Act and Kashi Vishwanath Act, which the Muslim side has repeatedly cited, are not applicable in my case,” the lawyer said.
Gaur had in his argument before the court earlier said the Hindu side had been worshipping Maa Shringar Gauri till 1993. Later, the government put up barricades and banned the worship of the deity by Hindus.
He had said that his case was limited to the issue of regular worship of the deity.
After Rakhi Singh and others had filed the petition, a lower court later ordered a videography survey of the complex.
The survey work was completed on May 16 and the report was presented in the court on May 19.
The Hindu side had claimed in the court that a Shivling was found during the videography survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex but the Muslim side had claimed that it was part of a fountain mechanism.
On the Supreme Court’s order, the matter is now being heard by the district court.
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