The Supreme Court on Friday, 11 November, extended its 17 May order protecting the 'Shivling' claimed to have been found in the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex.
The order is an interim one and will continue until further directions.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices Surya Kant and PS Narasimha also allowed the Hindu parties to move an application before the Varanasi district judge for combining the lawsuits filed on the Gyanvapi row.
In May, a court permitted a video survey of the mosque had found that an oval object was present on the premises.
The Supreme Court had then passed an interim order directing the District Magistrate to ensure protection of the area where the oval object was found.
Muslims had said that the object is a fountain in the wazu khana or ablution tank, and not a symbolic representation of the Hindu god Shiva as claimed by the Hindu side.
The case pertains to a plea filed by five Hindu women seeking permission for the worship of Hindu deities whose idols were allegedly found to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque.
The claim was disputed by the Muslim side and said that the mosque is a Waqf property.
However, on 12 September, District Judge AK Vishvesha had dismissed the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s application and held that the plea by the five women was “maintainable” and could be heard further.
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