The Gyanvapi Mosque case reached the Varanasi district judge’s doorstep on the orders of the Supreme Court. It had said that ‘an experienced and senior judge’ should handle the matter because of its complex and sensitive nature
The Gyanvapi Masjid, located near the Kashi Vishwanath temple, in Varanasi. PTI
All eyes will be trained on Varanasi’s district judge as he will take up the matter of the hearing in the Gyanvapi Mosque case from today.
The hearing comes after the Supreme Court last Friday transferred the suit filed by the Hindu petitioners from the Varanasi civil judge to the district judge for deciding the mosque management committee’s objections to the survey.
Also read: Explained: The Gyanvapi case and the connection to the Ayodhya dispute
The apex court had said then that looking at the “complexities and sensitivity of the issue, it is better if a senior judicial officer having an experience of over 25-30 years handles this case”.
Ahead of the hearing, take a look at District Judge Ajay Krishna Vishwesha and his career that has spanned across 30 years.
About Ajay Krishna Vishwesha
Born in 1964 in Haridwar, Ajay Krishna Vishwesha graduated from science, before he took up studying law.
He completed his LLB in 1984, LLM in 1986 and in 1990, he started his career from Munsif Court in Kotdwar.
The 58-year-old has in the past been the district judge of Bulandshahr. Apart from this, he has also worked as a district judge in Saharanpur and Allahabad.
He was appointed as Varanasi’s district judge in August 2021 and will retire from law in January 2024.
India Today reports that Vishwesha has taken several training courses to keep himself updated and just finished a leadership course from National Judicial Academy, Bhopal in March.
A look at his profile on the Allahabad High Court website shows that he has undertaken 16 training courses, including ones on Scientific Aids to Interrogation as well as Judicial Skills for Appreciation of Evidence.
The Gyanvapi case till now
The Gyanvapi Mosque case reached the doors of Varanasi’s senior most judge on the orders of the Supreme Court on Friday.
Judge Vishwesha will have to decide today on whose side he will hear first.
On one hand, the Committee of Management of Anjuman Intezamia Masajid, the Muslim side, has challenged the maintainability of the suit by five Hindu women, seeking the right to worship at Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal.
The five women in their plea sought year-long access to pray at a Hindu shrine behind the western wall of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi. Presently, devotees are allowed to worship Shringar Gauri only on the fourth day of Chaitra Navratra. The women also want permission to pray to other “visible and invisible deities within the old temple complex”.
Meanwhile, the Hindu side argues that the court should examine the commission report and the video taken during the survey because it is evidence in the case.
On 16 May, the lower court had directed the district administration to seal a spot in the Gyanvapi Masjid complex after counsels representing the Hindu petitioners said a Shivling was found during a court-mandated videography survey.
A mosque management committee spokesperson disputed the claim, telling a television channel that the object was part of a “fountain”.
He said lawyers representing the mosque committee were not fully heard before the sealing order was announced.
The Hindu side claimed that the Shivling was found close to the ‘wazukhana‘ — a small ablution pond used by Muslim devotees.
With inputs from agencies
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