The story so far: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the District Magistrate of Varanasi to ensure protection of the area at the Gyanvapi mosque complex where a ‘shivling’ is said to have been found during the survey there. (The caretakers of the mosque said that the said object was not a ‘shivling’ but a part of a stone fountain in the wazu khana (ablution tank) of the mosque.)
While hearing the plea of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the affairs of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, challenging the video survey a Bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and P.S. Narasimha, ordered that Muslims could continue offering ‘namaz’ there without any impediment. The top court posted the plea of the mosque committee, which had invoked the Places of Worship Act while seeking a stay on the survey, for hearing on May 19.
