Varanasi court postpones hearing to October 11 in Gyanvapi case
On September 22, the Hindu side demanded carbon dating and other scientific tests of the Shivling-like structure.
A district court in Varanasi on Friday deferred the pronouncement of the judgment on a plea seeking carbon dating of the structure inside the Gyanvapi mosque. The court will pronounce its verdict on October 11.
The court was supposed to pronounce its verdict on the plea filed by the Hindu side demanding carbon dating of the structure they claimed to be a Shivling found inside the Gyanvapi Mosque’s wazukhana. A heavy police force was deployed outside the premises of the court ahead of the crucial hearing.
Four women petitioners in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shrinagar Gauri case had sought scientific investigation and carbon dating to ascertain the nature and age of the Shivling. The Hindu side had claimed that they had found a shivling in the ablution pond of the mosque when the survey was conducted.
The court had reserved the order in the Gyanvapi Mosque-Shringar Gauri case on September 29 after hearing both sides' arguments. The Muslim side in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex case had filed an objection in the court against Hindu plaintiffs’ plea for the carbon dating of the 'Shivling'.
Carbon dating is a scientific process that ascertains the age of an archaeological object or archaeological finds.
On September 22, the Hindu side demanded carbon dating and other scientific tests of the Shivling-like structure. This was opposed not only by the Muslim side’s Anjuman Inazaniya Masajid Committee, but also by plaintiff number one Rakhi Singh of the Hindu side. The lawyers had lodged an objection in court saying that carbon dating would damage the structure.
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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 the namaz.
The claim was disputed by the Muslim side, which said the object was part of a "fountain".
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