Hindu side demands handover of Gyanvapi basement to Varanasi District Magistrate

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 26 : Amid the ongoing survey of the Gyanvapi complex by Archaeological Survey of India, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi case on Tuesday said that a fresh plea has been submitted in the district court Varanasi seeking the handover of the basement of Gyanvapi complex from under the possession of the Vyas family to the District Magistrate.
The 'tahkhana' (basement) that is under the possession of the Vyas family is in the southern part of the Gyanvapi mosque.
The Hindu side of the case has demanded that the basement be handed over to the District Magistrate immediately and that the DM be appointed as its receiver.
“We have filed a civil suit on behalf of the Vyas family in the honourable civil court, Varanasi, and we have also applied before the Varanasi district court and district judge, to transfer the original trial to the district court, Varanasi, like it is doing in other cases," told Advocate Vishnu Shankar to ANI.
"The demand in this is that a basement which is on the southern side of the Masjid can be taken over by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee and hence we have demanded that the possession of this basement be handed over to DM immediately and that the DM be appointed its receiver," he said.
"We have gone to the district court with this demand. Today a hearing has been done on our transfer application and Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee has appeared in this case and asked to reply. We will receive an order on the transfer application tomorrow, after that further action will be taken in this case," he added.
The Vyas family of Varanasi continues to possess one of the four basements of the complex which were surveyed by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
In 1991, the Vyas family filed a case demanding the handover of the Gyanvapi mosque structure to Hindus, claiming that except for the upper structure, where namaz is offered and the domes, the entire structure still stands on the Lord Visheshwar temple.
Though the Vyas family does not live in the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex anymore, one of the four basements of the mosque is still in their possession.
Earlier on September 14, Advocate Anupam Dwivedi representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi case said the Varanasi district court has directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to prepare a list and preserve all objects found in the scientific survey of the complex.
Speaking to ANI, Anupam Dwivedi said, "On all the applications filed for the purpose of historical evidence or any other evidence which is found during the commission proceedings or ASI survey, Varanasi district court has directed Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to prepare a list and preserve all objects, having historical significance found during the Scientific Survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises."
Earlier, in August this year, the Allahabad High Court allowed the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi.
However, the court, on Friday, granted four weeks’ additional time to the ASI to complete the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
The ASI was granted time till October 6, 2023, to complete the survey and submit the report.
The Allahabad High Court dismissed a plea filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, challenging the ASI survey of the mosque complex adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.
The scientific survey of the complex, adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath Temple, excluding ‘wuzukhana’, began on August 4, following the Allahabad High Court's order, allowing the ASI to conduct the survey to determine if the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.
Though the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Allahabad High Court order, the top court declined to stay the scientific survey of the complex by the ASI.