The order is in response to the plea submitted by the Hindu side who had during a court-mandated videography survey of the mosque premises claimed that a ‘Shivling’ was found close to the ‘wazookhana’, a small reservoir used by Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering the namaz.
The Varanasi District Court is likely to deliver its final verdict today on the plea seeking carbon dating of the ‘Shivling’, claimed to be found inside the Gyanvapi mosque premises. The Court, during its hearing on October 11, set the final date for the order on October 14.
The order is in response to the plea submitted by the Hindu side who had during a court-mandated videography survey of the mosque premises claimed that a ‘Shivling’ was found close to the ‘Wazookhana’, a small reservoir used by Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering the namaz.
The ‘Shivling’ claim has however been disputed by the Muslim side, who said the object was part of a ‘fountain’ and not a ‘Shivling’.
Arguments on the plea were completed earlier this week and the court will pronounce its verdict on October 14, District Government Counsel Mahendra Pratap Pandey had said earlier.
Advocate Mumtaz Ahmed, who appeared for the Muslim side, said they told the court that carbon dating of the object cannot be done. “If the object gets damaged in the name of carbon dating, it amounts to the defiance of the order of the Supreme Court,” he said.
Earlier, the Muslim side had contended that the Supreme Court had asked the Varanasi district magistrate to keep the object safe. In such a situation, getting it examined cannot be justified, they had said. The Muslim side also said the original case is about the worship of Shringar Gauri while the structure in the mosque has nothing to do with it.
In such a condition, neither any investigation can be done by the Archaeological Department nor a legal report be called after conducting a scientific investigation, they had said.
This particular argument was also raised by some of in the Hindu side who opposed the plea seeking carbon dating and said that demand is unwarranted for and would be mishandling with a sacred structure.
The petitioners in the case involving the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri dispute however had put forward their arguments in favour of carbon-dating of the structure, according to district government advocate Mahendra Pandey.
The Hindu petitioners’ lawyer, Vishnu Shankar Jain, told reporters that the court wanted to know if the ‘Shivling’ was a part of the case property and whether it could appoint a commission for the purpose of carbon-dating and a scientific investigation of the structure.
