New Delhi: A district court in Varanasi on Friday rejected Hindu plaintiffs’ plea seeking carbon dating and scientific investigation of an object that is purportedly a ‘Shivling’ in the Gyanvapi mosque complex, according to LiveLaw.
According to reports, the court rejected the plea in view of the Supreme Court’s May 17 order to protect the site where the object was found, while the mosque was being surveyed.
Any harm to the “Shivling” will also hurt religious sentiments and lessen the chances of a legal resolution of the dispute, the court said, according to NDTV.
The Hindu petitioners had during a court-mandated videography survey of the mosque premises claimed that a “Shivling” was found close to the wazookhana, a small reservoir used by Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering namaz. The claim was disputed by Muslim plaintiffs, which said the object was part of a “fountain”.
Arguments on the plea were completed on October 11.
During the arguments, advocate Mumtaz Ahmed, who appeared for Muslim plaintiffs, said they told the court that carbon dating of the object cannot be done. If the object gets damaged in the name of carbon dating, it amounts to the defiance of the order of the Supreme Court, he said.
Also Read: 1991 Places of Worship Act and 1942 Allahabad HC Ruling Settle Gyanvapi’s Status as a Mosque
Earlier, the Muslim plaintiffs had contended that the Supreme Court had asked the Varanasi district magistrate to keep the object safe. In such a situation, getting it examined cannot be justified, they had said.
The Muslim plaintiffs also said the original case is about the worship of Shringar Gauri while the structure of the mosque has nothing to do with it.
In such a condition, neither any investigation can be done by the Archaeological Department nor a legal report be called after conducting a scientific investigation, they had said.
(With PTI inputs)