SC notice to 5 women Gyanvapi petitioners

Appearing for the UP govt during the hearing on the Gyanvapi mosque survey, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said the SC bench had taken the right decision to seal off the 'wuzu khana' area

- Dhananjay.Mahapatra

New Delhi: Appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government during the hearing on the Gyanvapi mosque survey, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said the bench has taken the right decision to seal off the "wuzu khana" area where the shivling was purportedly found. "If Muslims were allowed to perform ablution, which involves washing hands, mouth, and feet, at the area and someone keeps feet on the shivling, it would create a serious law-and-order problem. Muslims could use some other area within the mosque for ablution purposes," he said.

Mosque management counsel Huzefa A Ahmadi's focused argument that the interim order is an ex facie breach of the Protection of Places of Worship Act, 1991, which prohibited altering the character of any religious structure after August 15, 1947, did not persuade the bench to stay the interim order passed by the Varanasi court directing the district magistrate to seal off the area in question.