Kashi DJ court to hear cases related to Gyanvapi on May 29

Varanasi: The district judge's court has scheduled May 29 for further hearings in the Gyanvapi-related cases. On Saturday, the court asked litigants seeking the separation of their cases, which had been consolidated with suit no. 18/2022, Rakhi Singh and others vs. UP State and others, to submit their requests in writing.
Rajesh Mishra, the special government counsel for Gyanvapi cases, said that hearings were held on Saturday for two key pleas.The first plea was from the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust, requesting repairs to the dilapidated roof of the Vyas Tehkhana (southern cellar) of Gyanvapi. The second plea was from Rakhi Singh, seeking an ASI survey of areas of the mosque that were not covered in the 2023 survey. The court has set May 29 as the next hearing date for these cases. Many plaintiffs, whose cases were combined with suit no. 18/2022, in which five women plaintiffs seek the right to worship Shringar Gauri and other deities in the Gyanvapi mosque, have demanded that their cases be separated and returned to their original courts. Mishra added that the court has requested written applications outlining these demands for consideration.
On May 23, 2023, the then-district judge Ajay Krishna Vishwesha ordered the consolidation of seven Gyanvapi-related cases transferred from different courts to his court. "Rakhi Singh and others vs. State of UP and others" was designated as the leading case for joint hearings.
This order followed an application by Vishnu Shankar Jain, the advocate for four women plaintiffs in suit no. 18/2022, who argued on December 5, 2022, that transferring and consolidating the cases would save public time and money and prevent legal complications. The district judge's court accepted this plea on Apr17, 2023. Meanwhile, after the southern cellar was opened for worship on the night of Jan 31, a priest appointed by the KV temple trust began conducting puja there.
Following this, the chief executive officer of the trust, Vishwa Bhushan Mishra, filed a plea seeking repairs to the roof. He reported that a stone piece had fallen to the floor after detaching from the cellar roof due to massive vibrations caused by overcrowded Muslims offering Namaz on Feb 18. The plea also requested measures to control the gathering of Muslims on the roof of the southern cellar while offering prayers.