NEW DELHI: A local court in Varanasi on Tuesday removed Ajay Kumar Mishra as the advocate commissioner for the video survey of the Gyanvapi mosque near the Kashi Vishwanath temple, and gave the remaining two commissioners two more days to file their report on the survey.
The removal comes just a week after the Varanasi court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar had rejected an appeal made by the Muslim side seeking Mishra’s dismissal. The court, however, had agreed to appoint two assistant advocate commissioners: Vishal Singh and Ajay Singh.

On Tuesday, the court decided to remove Mishra and gave three reasons for the dismissal.
1. The court-appointed advocate commissioner was removed on the grounds of “non-cooperation”.
2. Not performing his duty responsibly.
3. Engaging a private cameraman in the survey process who eventually leaked the outcomes of the survey to the media.
I did nothing: Mishra
After being removed, Mishra said he did nothing “that reveals the secrecy of the matter”. “I was removed because of the allegations of Advocate Vishal Singh. I will respect the court order. Whatever has happened is only because of Vishal,” said Mishra.

Gyanvapi mosque case live updates
Survey report
The three-day survey of the mosque began on Saturday amid tight security and was completed by Monday morning, a day before the deadline set by the court. The three-member team was slated to submit the report on Tuesday. But the team sought more time to finalise the report.
“Around 50% of the report is ready … we did not get time (to compile the report),” said Ajay Singh.
Vishal Singh will now file the report on May 19.
Supreme Court orders
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has ordered the sealing of the area where a ‘shivling’ was allegedly found during the survey, but clarified that the order will not impede access to Muslims offering prayers at the mosque.
The SC is hearing a plea by the Committee of Management of Anjuman Intezamia Masjid challenging the videography survey of Gyanvapi mosque.
(With inputs from agencies)