G N G GROUP

Varanasi: The court-appointed advocate commissioner would resume the survey and videography of Gyanvapi mosque premises on Saturday, two days after the civil judge refused to change hin and ordered to submit the survey report by May 17.
A meeting of the two sides-the plaintiffs and respondents was organized at the office of ACP Chetganj on Friday to finalize the survey plan.
After the meeting, district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said, "As per the directive of the court, the survey will be conducted from 8 am to 12 noon on Saturday. An appeal has been made to both sides to maintain peace and harmony in the city."
From the Anjuman Intezamiya Masajid (AIM) side, the meeting was attended by Mufti-e-Banaras Maulana Abdul Batin Nomani and others. Besides, the lawyers of both sides, the commissioner of police, A Satish Ganesh, also attended the meeting.
In the Shringar Gauri worship case, the court of the civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar on Thursday rejected the request of the AIM for changing the advocate commissioner and ordered that Ajay Kumar Mishra would continue to do the survey work. Besides, the court also appointed two additional advocates-Vishal Singh as special advocate commissioner and Ajay Pratap Singh as assistant advocate commissioner.
The court also strictly directed the district administration to ensure that the survey was not delayed for any reason and asked to submit the survey report before it on May 17. Anyone who tries to stall the survey should be dealt with sternly, the court said.
As per the court's directive issued on April 26, the advocate commissioner had started the work of survey and videography on the Gyanvapi premises on May 6 in presence of both parties amid protests.
But the survey was stalled on May 7 due to a protest by AIM, which also filed a petition in the court on the same day, requesting for change of advocate commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra, accusing him of working under the pressure of the plaintiffs.
The hearing on the AIM's plea took place in the court till Wednesday and the court issued its order on Thursday afternoon, making it clear that the advocate commissioner would not be changed, but would be assisted by two more advocates to complete the survey. The court has also made it clear that the survey process would not be hampered in case of the absence of any advocate.
The court directed the district magistrate and the commissioner of police that it would be their personal responsibility to get the commission proceedings completed. The DGP and the chief secretary were directed to supervise the survey so that the administrative officers of the district do not make any excuse to postpone the proceedings.
The plaintiffs-Rakhi Singh of Delhi, Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas, and Rekha Pathak, all natives of Varanasi, had filed the petition on April 18, 2021, seeking permission for daily worship and performing rituals at the idols of Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesh, Lord Hanuman, and Nandi, situated on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi premises, and stopping the opponents from causing any damage to the statues.
The respondents in the case include the Uttar Pradesh government, Anjuman Intezamiya Masjid, and others.