A fast-track court in Varanasi on Monday said it cannot pass an order on a plea by the Hindu side seeking interim relief to offer prayers inside the Gyanvapi mosque without hearing the other parties in the case, reported Live Law.

The court said that it cannot pass the order as the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, the caretakers of the mosque, the Uttar Pradesh government, the police and the district magistrate have not received a copy of the interim relief that has been sought.

Civil Judge Mahendra Kumar Pandey said that it would not be fair to give the verdict without giving the mosque committee to argue. It directed the committee to file its response on July 8, when the next hearing will take place.

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The suit has been filed by a man named Kiran Singh, the international general secretary of the Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh. The Hindutva organisation has sought to ban Muslims from entering the mosque complex.

On May 25, District Judge AK Vishvesh had transferred the matter to the fast-track court.

A group of five Hindu women have also filed a separate suit seeking permission to offer prayers at the back of the western wall of the Gyanvapi mosque. The plaintiffs have claimed that an image of the Hindu deity Shringar Gauri exists at the site. This suit is pending before the Varanasi district court.

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In April, a civil court in Varanasi appointed commissioners to conduct a video survey of the mosque, which is located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

The surveyor reported that an oval object had been found in the wazu khana, or ablution tank, of the Muslim place of worship. Hindu petitioners claimed it is a Shivling, a symbolic representation of Hindu deity Shiva. Muslims, however, say that the object is actually a fountain.

However, on May 16, the trial court ordered that the wazu khana be sealed.