Gyanvapi case: Petitioners to oppose plea to remove official It comes a day after Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, filed the petition in the court of civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar, seeking Ajai Kumar’s removal alleging him of being “bias”. After hearing the petition on Saturday, the court posted the matter for Monday. Advocates representing the petitioners in Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri temple case in Varanasi on Sunday said they will oppose a petition filed before a civil judge that sought removal or replacement of the court-appointed advocate commissioner Ajai Kumar, tasked to survey the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal in the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex. It comes a day after Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, filed
the petition in the court of civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar, seeking Ajai Kumar’s removal alleging him of being “bias”. After hearing the petition on Saturday, the court posted the matter for Monday. “We will file an objection in the court of civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar on May 9 against the petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee seeking removal of advocate commissioner Ajai Kumar,” said Sudhir Tripathi, who is one of the advocates representing the plaintiffs — Rakhi Singh, Manju Vyas, Sita Sahu and Rekha Pathak. The petitioners in their plea filed last year sought the permission to perform daily worship of deities Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesha, Lord Hanuman and Nandi whose idols are on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque. “The allegation by the
lawyers of the mosque committee that the advocate commissioner is biased and conducting the survey keeping in view the interest of the plaintiffs is completely baseless. The advocate commissioner conducted the proceedings of the survey in a quite fair (way). We will urge the court that the advocate commissioner should not be changed,” Tripathi added.
Congress Working Committee to meet today to review panels’ plans on key issues
The proposals of these six panels will be part of a resolution that will be adopted during the threeday chintan shivir which is slated to begin from May 13, a party leader familiar with the developments said. Preparing the ground for the party’s chintan shivir (brainstorming session) in Udaipur later this week, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet on Monday evening to finalise the proposals of the six panels which were formed last month to deliberate upon the political and economical situation in the country. The proposals of these six panels will be part of a resolution that will be adopted during the threeday chintan shivir which is slated to begin from May 13, a party leader familiar with the developments said. The meeting of the Congress’ top executive body assumes significance as it will define the scope of discussions on a number of issues related to farmers and agriculture sector, the situation related to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes
and minorities, social justice and youth in the upcoming chintan shivir, the party leader said, seeking anonymity. The meeting will also allow the CWC to delve into other issues such as inflation, the economic situation, high unemployment rates and current political situation, the party leader added. “The importance of the brainstorming session is immense. While it is aimed to revitalise the party and discuss the political line, a number of social and economic issues will also come up for debate and there is a scope of mid-course corrections to take on the BJP,” a senior leader involved with the preparations of the meeting said on condition of anonymity. The Congress’ chintan shivir, which was last held in 2003, is being organised at a time the party is struggling to win elections and has been reduced to just 29 seats in Rajya Sabha and 53 in Lok Sabha. “Issues relating to the welfare and well-being of kisans (farmers) and khet mazdoors (farm labourers),
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Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs, religious and linguistic minorities and women social justice and empowerment and youth will also be discussed in detail. Besides these, matters relating to organisational restructuring and strengthening will be examined. The chintan shivir will also deliberate on the broad strategy of the Congress for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” the senior leader quoted above said. The six panels, that are expected to submit their proposals to the CWC on Monday, are headed by leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge (political), former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid (social justice and empowerment), former finance minister P Chidambaram (economy), general secretary Mukul Wasnik (organisation), former chief minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda (farmers and agriculture) and Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Warring (youth and empowerment). Each committee has nine members.
Kumar was appointed as the advocate commissioner in the case, titled Rakhi Singh and others vs UP state and Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, by the local court on April 8. After hearing the matter, the court directed the plaintiffs and advocate commissioner to present their side in the court on May 9, said Yadav.
A copy of the order by the court was delivered to the advocate commissioner and the petitioners, he said, adding they have been directed to come with all documents and evidences to present their side. SM Yasin, joint secretary of the mosque committee, on April 30, said that no one would be allowed to enter the mosque for the survey. There has been a protest over the survey of several deities, including Shringar Gauri, located in Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath temple premises and the Gyanvapi Masjid complex. Court-appointed official and a team of lawyers conducted an inspection at Gyanvapi Masjid on Friday in connection with a plea seeking access to a Hindu temple behind it. The survey and videography at the mosque also continued on Sunday.
On Saturday, the advocate commissioner with his team arrived for the survey and videography of many deities, including Shringar Gauri, located in the Gyanvapi complex, Varanasi. But the survey could not start as the advocates of the mosque management committee, who arrived about an hour after the survey team, opposed it. A huge crowd gathered outside the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex and shouted slogans. Police personnel drove them away. One person was taken into custody. On Friday, too, some slogan-shouting was witnessed when the courtordered survey began under tight security in Varanasi. The court of the civil judge (senior division) of Varanasi, Ravi Kumar Diwakar, on April 26 had ordered videography of the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal by the advocate commissioner.
10 lakh cash seized from Bihar jail superintendent’s office, raids on: SVU An SVU official said the raid was conducted on the basis of an FIR (first information report) registered by the vigilance police station in state capital Patna. PATNA: Teams of Bihar Police’s special vigilance unit (SVU) on Friday raided the office and residences of Saharsa district jail superintendent in connection with a disproportionate assets (DA) case registered against him, people aware of the matter said. According to the vigilance unit, the teams found allegedly 10 lakh in the office of jail superintendent Suresh Choudhary and 1 lakh in his Muzaffarpur residence. Choudhary could not be reached for his reaction despite multiple attempts on his phone. This story will be updated when he responds. During the search, SVU also allegedly seized documents related to 15 plots
in Muzaffarpur, Motipur and Hajipur, which according to initial estimates, are believed to be worth 3 crore. An SVU official said the raid was conducted on the basis of an FIR (first information report) registered by the vigilance police station in Patna. Suresh Choudhary joined the service as an assistant jailor in 1994. He is currently posted in Saharsa, nearly 200km from state capital Patna. In the raids conducted at his office and two houses
in Muzaffarpur, SVU said they had also come across documents that indicate he paid 15 lakh for his daughter’s admission to a private medical college and papers relating to 38 bank accounts and fixed deposits in the name of his relatives. Additional director general of SVU, NH Khan, said, “We are collecting the details of the seized valuables from the officer. No estimation has been made yet to ascertain the value of all properties as the searches are still underway.”
Weather News Highlights: No heatwave in Delhi this week, says IMD; PM advises to put heat action plans in place Weather News Highlights: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed the situation relating to heat wave management and monsoon preparedness in a high-level meeting and advised states and union territories to have heat action plans in place at both state, as well as city and district levels. IMD has also said no heatwave is predicted this week. Delhi summers this year made a record as it was the second hottest
April since 1951 with a monthly average maximum
temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius.
