North East
According to the Supreme Court's updated order for Tuesday, a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and P S Narasimha will hear the petition of the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid.
Digital Desk: The Supreme Court will hear the management of the Gyanvapi mosque's appeal against the survey of the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday (May 17).
The Supreme Court will hear the petition amid a significant development, with a Varanasi court ordering the district administration to seal the survey site inside the complex where the surveying crew reportedly discovered a 'shivling.'
According to the Supreme Court's updated order for Tuesday, a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and P S Narasimha will hear the petition of the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which oversees the activities of Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque.
A panel led by Chief Justice N V Ramana issued a written decision on Friday ordering the case to be heard by a bench led by Justice Chandrachud.
On Friday, the bench, however, denied the Muslim side's request for an interim order of status quo against the ongoing inspection of the sacred complex.
However, the CJI-led bench agreed to consider scheduling a hearing on the plea.
"We believe it appropriate to direct the Registry to list the matter before the bench presided by Dr. Justice D Y Chandrachud," the bench, including Justices J K Maheshwari and Hima Kohli, stated in its decision.
Ahmadi, representing the mosque committee, informed the bench that a complaint had been made against the survey being undertaken at the site and that an urgent interim order had been requested in the matter.
"We have filed in connection with a survey that has been ordered in reference to the Varanasi property. This (Gyanvapi) has been a mosque since time immemorial and this is definitely interdicted under the Places of Worship Act," the senior advocate said.
The Muslim side has cited Section 4 of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits filing any suit or commencing any other legal proceeding to modify a place of worship's religious character; it existed on August 15, 1947.
On May 12, a Varanasi local court denied a request to replace the advocate commissioner it had appointed to undertake a videography survey of the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex and ordered the assignment to be completed by May 17.
Two more lawyers were assigned by the district court to assist the advocate commissioner in surveying the mosque near the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple.
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