Gyanvapi: Varanasi Court to hear plea seeking ASI survey of all sealed basements on Feb 15

The Court had earlier permitted prayers by Hindu side in the sealed cellar

Gyanvapi mosque cellar (File) A priest performs prayers in the basement of Gyanvapi mosque following court orders allowing the resumption of the practice | PTI

A Varanasi court on Tuesday fixed February 15 for the hearing of a petition seeking a survey of all closed basements in the Gyanvapi mosque complex by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

According to the petition, there are "secret cellars" inside the basements and it is necessary to survey them to reveal the entire truth of the Gyanvapi mosque.

Lawyer Madan Mohan Yadav said acting District Judge Anil Kumar has fixed February 15 as the next date of hearing on the petition. The petitioner, Rakhi Singh, is a founding member of the Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh and is one of the parties in the Maa Shringar Gauri case, which led to the survey of the complex by the ASI.

“In the petition, she asked for all closed cellars in the Gyanvapi mosque complex, adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, to be surveyed by the ASI,” her advocate Anupam Dwivedi said. A map of the closed basements has also been included in the petition.

The district court had recently permitted prayers by the Hindu side in the sealed cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque. The Mosque committee has approached to High Court against the order.

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