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He said the water for wazu is being used from a drum and the number of worshippers has increased in view of Ramzan.
The CJI said the matter will be taken up for hearing on April 14 by the bench also comprising Justice Surya Kant.
On March 28, the apex court had agreed to list for hearing on April 21 a plea of the Hindu side seeking consolidation of all suits filed in a Varanasi court pertaining to the Gyanvapi mosque complex row. The bench had taken note of the submissions of lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain that the district judge of Varanasi has deferred five times the decision on a plea seeking clubbing of all civil suits pertaining to the dispute. The apex court had earlier allowed the Hindu parties to move an application before the Varanasi district judge for consolidation of all lawsuits filed on the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri row.
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The mosque committee, however, maintained the structure was part of the water fountain mechanism at the ‘wazukhana’, the reservoir where devotees perform ablutions before offering namaz. The apex court had transferred the case to the district judge on May 20 last, pointing at the ”complexities” and the ”sensitivity” of the issue and saying that a more senior judicial officer should handle it. In its May 17 last year order, the top court had directed protection of the area around the claimed ‘Shivling’ while also allowing Muslims to offer namaz in the mosque. It had said the interim order shall remain in operation till the maintainability of the suit is decided by the district judge, and then for eight more weeks to allow the aggrieved parties to approach a higher court. The Varanasi district judge is now hearing the plea by a group of women seeking permission for daily worship of idols of Hindu deities located on the mosque’s outer wall. The Hindu side has also sought a survey of two locked basements in the mosque complex.