Retired judge who passed Gyanvapi order to allow puja appointed as Lokpal in Uttar Pradesh university

Retired District Judge Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha of the Varanasi court, who passed an order recently to allow Hindus to carry out prayers at the basement of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, has been appointed as the Lokpal of the government-run Dr Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University in Lucknow.

Speaking to The Indian Express on Thursday, Professor Yashwant Virodaya, media in-charge of the university, said that the appointment came into effect on February 26.

“He (Vishvesha) visited the university on Wednesday for a meeting with Vice-Chancellor Professor Himanshu Shekhar Jha. This is a state government university. The criteria for appointment for this post as per the UGC guidelines mandates that a person can either be a former V-C at a university, or someone who is a retired judge with experience of 10 years, or a person who has been a professor while holding the post of dean or president with experience of 10 years,” said Virodaya.

Vishvesha was the judge who ordered an evaluation by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on July 21 last year and had asked the ASI to ascertain whether the mosque was “constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple”.