In the ongoing Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute, lead plaintiff Rakhi Singh on Monday began her submissions before a district court in Varanasi, opposing the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s application challenging the maintainability of their suit.
Ms. Singh, who is legally represented by her uncle Jitender Singh ‘Visen’ through a power of attorney, was represented in court by advocate Shivam Gaur on Monday, who argued that their suit was maintainable and that it ought to be heard.
“We have submitted 361 pages of written arguments to the court and also cited over 100 Supreme Court judgments to support our arguments,” Mr. Gaur said.
During Monday’s hearing, Mr. Gaur argued before the court that the Places of Worship Act, 1991 does not bar their suit because till 1993, Maa Shringar Gauri was being worshipped at the disputed property. “This means that on August 15, 1947 also such worship was being done meaning that at that time, the religious character of the site was Hindu,” he said.
Moreover, Mr. Gaur said that the Waqf Act and the Kashi Vishwanath Act are neither applicable to their suit, nor do these Acts bar the suit in any way.
The district court in Varanasi is currently hearing a suit filed by five Hindu women — Rakhi Singh and four others — seeking the right to worship at the Maa Shringar Gouri shrine adjacent to the mosque premises all year round. Four other plaintiffs, represented by advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, completed their submissions last week, following which Ms. Singh began her submissions on Monday.
In their Order VII, Rule 11 application, challenging the maintainability of the suit, the Masjid panel had argued that the Places of Worship Act froze the religious character of the disputed site as that of a mosque as of August 1, 1947. The panel argued that because of this, the suit of the plaintiffs was not maintainable.
The district court will take up the matter next on Tuesday, July 19.
