Gyanvapi mosque survey: Advocate-Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra removed from his post; court grants two days time to submit survey report

In a related development, the Varanasi court of Civil Judge, which had last week ordered a survey of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex, removed advocate Ajay Kumar Mishra from the post of court commissioner; Mishra was heading a 3-member survey committee responsible for filming the Gyanvapi complex but got embroiled in a controversy over leaking of the survey details to the media. The court has asked the other two commissioners to continue with their work and submit their report to it in the next two days. Earlier, the report was to be submitted on Tuesday. Mishra is alleged to have not only leaked the finding of the survey but he also had brought a private photographer with him inside the complex. Meanwhile, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has said that the Gyanvapi mosque would remain as it is. It said that any effort to call it a temple is nothing but a ploy to disturb communal harmony. The board called a meeting of its executive in Lucknow on Tuesday to discuss the issue and said that government should intervene in the matter and safeguard all places of worship as per the Act passed in the year 1991.

A group of five women had filed a case in the Varanasi court seeking permission for regular prayers in the temple located inside the Gyanvapi mosque; they had claimed that there are idols of Lord Ganesha, Hanuman and Nandi on the wall, which should be restored. The court had acted on his writ and appointed advocate commissioners for videographing the premises and submitting a report on Tuesday.