On Friday, 27th of May 2022, the Muslim side in the ongoing case over the disputed Gyanvapi structure has asked the court not to make public the video survey of the disputed site. When the court ordered that both the Hindu and the Muslim sides will be given a copy of the court-appointed commissioner’s survey report and the findings on 30th May, the Muslim side urged the court not to make the details of the findings in the mosque’s video survey public.
Hindu and Muslim parties are at loggerheads over whether there is a Shivling or a fountain at the disputed Gyanvapi mosque. There was an argument between the two sides on the issue of the survey report and videography. At 3 PM on Friday, representatives of the Hindu and Muslim sides reached the court and attended the court proceedings. The Hindu side claims that the 11-hour survey has found ample evidence of a temple in the Gyanvapi mosque. After listening to both parties, the court ruled that the survey report and the videography report will be handed over to both sides on the 30th of May.
However, the Gyanvapi Mosque Committee has requested the court not to allow the photos and videos of the survey to become public. On the other hand, the Hindu side welcomed the court’s decision for the same. Both sides will have 7 days to raise their objections to the report after getting a copy.
On May 24, during a debate on the disputed structure at Gyanvapi, the Hindu side lawyer Vishnu Jain alleged that the Shivling was willfully desecrated by the Muslim side to install a fountain-like structure. He added that a 63cm hole was drilled in the Shivling to make it look like a fountain structure.
Jain said the said structure was still present in the storage room and the Muslim side tried to remove it but CRPF had stopped them. The next hearing, in this case, will be on 30th May 2022.
