Videography survey of Gyanvapi Masjid complex held peacefully, to resume on May 15: Officials

The videography survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex in Varanasi which resumed following a local court order was carried out without any interruption as all parties cooperated officials saidThey said that the survey work will continue on Sunday The survey was stalled last week amid objections by the mosque committee which claimed that the advocate commissioner appointed by the court for the survey did not have the mandate to film inside the premisesThe survey work went on in a peaceful manner There was no objection from anyone Everything is normal and conducive and all parties cooperated Police Commissioner of Varanasi A Satish Ganesh told PTI Todays survey is over and it will continue tomorrow he said District Magistrate of Varanasi Kaushal Raj Sharma said Amid tight security arrangements the videography of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex was held on Saturday and almost 50 per cent of the survey work has been doneThe survey will continue on Sunday as well It was conducted from 8 am to 12 noon The Varanasi police commissioner and a trustee of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust were also present during the survey Sharma said Survey of more than 50 per cent of the place has been done The survey work is confidential and is done under the monitoring of the court So information regarding the places where the survey was done and what was found cannot be shared now he added Sharma also said that all parties were satisfied with Saturdays survey and it will resume on Sunday All parties their advocates court commissioners and videographers were present during the survey Sharma saidThe mosque is located close to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple and the local court is hearing a plea by a group of women seeking permission for daily prayers before the idols on its outer walls An important meeting was held with all parties concerned on Friday Sharma had said earlier and added that an appeal was made to them to cooperate in the commissions work and the maintenance of law and order More than 1500 policemen and PAC jawans have been deployed as part of the security arrangement The officials said movement of people has been stopped at a distance of 500 metres from the Gyanvapi complex The police have also stopped vehicular movement coming from Godaulia and Maidagin areas of the city Before entering the Gyanvapi premises advocate Madan Mohan Yadav who is appearing for the Hindu side said all members of the survey team were told to assemble at 730 am at gate number 4 of the Kashi Vishwanath temple complexSpecial lights and cameras were arranged to carry out the survey work he said The mosque management committee has indicated that it will cooperate for now with the team assigned the task by the court The advocates of both sides and the advocate commissioner refused to comment after coming out of the complex In his order on Thursday District Civil Court Senior Division judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar had turned down a plea by the mosque committee to replace Ajay Kumar Mishra who was appointed advocate commissioner by him to survey the GyanvapiGauri Shringar complex The judge also appointed two more advocates to help the commissioner with the survey and said it should be completed by Tuesday The lawyers representing the Hindu and Muslim sides were present at the meeting held on Friday by the district magistrateAlso on Friday the Supreme Court refused to grant an interim order of status quo on the survey The top court however agreed to consider listing the plea of a Muslim party against the survey The survey was stalled following objections by the mosque committee which accused the advocate commissioner of bias and filed a plea for his replacement Advocate Yadav had said the three courtappointed advocate commissioners five lawyers each from the two sides and an assistant besides a videography team will carry out the survey People attended Friday prayers amid tight security outside the mosqueIn its order on Thursday the district court said locks should be broken if the keys are not available to access certain areas of the complex for the survey It also asked the district authorities to register FIRs if the survey was not allowedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever