Next hearing on July 21 in Gyanvapi case

Hindu plaintiffs expected to conclude arguments

Rakhi Singh, the lead plaintiff in the ongoing Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute, on Tuesday opposed the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s application challenging the maintainability of her suit. 

Continuing submissions before a district court in Varansi, Shivam Gaur, one of the lawyers representing Ms. Singh, said they were nearly done and should be able to conclude arguments by the next date of hearing. 

The matter has been posted for hearing next on July 21.

The Masjid panel had filed an application under Order VII Rule 11, arguing that the suit filed by the plaintiffs in the case was not maintainable as it was barred by laws like the Places of Worship Act, 1991 and the Waqf Act. 

Responding to this application, the Hindu plaintiffs argued that none of these specifically bars their suit and sought to present evidence in their main suit. Anupam Dwivedi, another lawyer in Ms. Singh’s team said, “We argued before the court that Right to Worship can be contested in the civil jurisdiction and cited several High Court judgements to this effect”. 

The suit filed by five Hindu women seeks the right to pray at a Hindu shrine adjacent to the mosque premises all year-round. Initially, Advocates Hari Shankar Jain, his son Vishnu Shankar Jain and their team were representing all five plaintiffs.  However, Ms. Singh dropped the Jains as her legal representation last month, on the advice of her uncle Jitender Singh “Visen”, who holds a power of attorney for her. 

After deciding the maintainability application, the district court is scheduled to take up the matter regarding the survey report of the mosque — ordered by the civil court that was earlier hearing the suit.