Court reserves order on plea to hand over keys of basement at Gyanvapi complex to DM
Varanasi (UP) (PTI): A court here on Saturday completed the hearing on a petition seeking the handing over of keys to the basement at the Gyanvapi mosque complex to the Varanasi district magistrate and reserved its order for October 4.
Authorities had barricaded and locked the basement known as Vyas ji ka Tehkhana in 1993. Prior to it, the basement was used for worship by Somnath Vyas, a priest, according to petitioner Madan Mohan Yadav.
Yadav has pleaded that the key be handed over to the district magistrate, fearing that the contents of the basement could be tampered with.
District Judge AK Vishvesh on Friday posted the matter to Saturday for further hearing after accepting the Kashi Vishwanath Trust's plea for more time to prepare its argument.
Yadav claimed that during the hearing, the advocate for the Kashi Vishwanath Trust said that they have no objection to the plea for handing over the keys of the basement to the district magistrate.
"The court has now reserved its order on the matter for October 4," district government counsel Rajesh Mishra said.
The Archaeological Survey of India is carrying out a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises, next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple here, to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a Hindu temple.
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
