Gyanvapi case: Court denies giving order on seal cloth

Varanasi: The court of the district judge on Monday denied passing any order on the demand to replace the cloth used for sealing the wuzukhana (ablution pond) of the Gyanvapi mosque in light of the Supreme Court's order.Special govt counsel for Gyanvapi Rajesh Mishra said, "The court of district judge Sanjeev Shukla observed that as the sealing of the wuzukhana was ensured on the order of the Supreme Court , which ordered the district magistrate to keep the sealed area safe, and the apex court has also ordered all courts concerned not to pass any preliminary or final order till its next order, it is not appropriate for this court to pass any order." The court asked to produce the papers of the case on Jan 6, said Mishra.During the court-mandated survey in May 2022, claims of the presence of a purported Shivling inside the wuzukhana of the Gyanvapi were made by the Hindu side. After this, the wuzukhana was sealed by the order of the Civil Judge Senior Division and the Supreme Court. Since then, the wuzukhana has remained sealed.The special govt counsel moved an application on August 8 to draw the court's attention to the cloth used for sealing the wuzukhana by demanding its replacement as it had decayed. Anjuman Intjamia Masjid (Gyanvapi mosque management committee) strongly opposed this demand.