FILE - Security personnel keep vigil outside Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi
Highlights
- The transferred judges are required to take charge of office by July 4
- Sources termed the transfer of Diwakar as 'routine' and said there was no link to the Gyanvapi case
- Earlier, Diwakar had also claimed to have received death threats during the hearing of the case
Gyanvapi mosque case: Ravi Kumar Diwakar, Varanasi civil judge who had ordered the video survey of Gyanvapi mosque, has been transferred to Bareilly. According to the details, Diwakar is among the 121 civil judges transferred by the Allahabad High Court on Monday evening.
The transferred judges are required to take charge of office by July 4.
Sources termed the transfer of Diwakar as 'routine' and said that there was no link to the sensitive Gyanvapi case that he was hearing.
Earlier, Diwakar had also claimed to have received death threats during the hearing of the case. His security had been upgraded by the Uttar Pradesh government.
Gyanvapi mosque case: Updates so far
On June 10, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had declined to entertain a PIL seeking the establishment of a committee headed by a retired or sitting judge of the Supreme Court or a high court to ascertain the truth about a structure found in the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi.
After hearing the public interest litigation (PIL) at length, a vacation bench of Justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Subhash Vidyarthi dismissed the plea and said it would issue a detailed order later.
It was claimed by the Hindu side that a Shivling was found during a videography survey of the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex last month.
The claim was disputed by the mosque committee members who said it was part of the water fountain mechanism in the wazookhana reservoir, used by devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering namaz.
The PIL was filed by Sudhir Singh, Ravi Mishra, Mahant Balak Das, Shivendra Pratap Singh, Markendey Tiwari, Rajiv Rai and Atul Kumar, claiming themselves to be devotees of Lord Shiva.
(With inputs from agencies)
