Gyanvapi Dispute: ASI To Provide Hard Copies Of Survey Report To Both Sides, Says Lawyer

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, told the media that the court heard both sides and a consensus was reached that hard copy of ASI survey report will be provided to both sides

A Varanasi district court on Wednesday pronounced its verdict in a petition to make the report by Archeological Survey of India (ASI) public.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, on Wednesday told the media that "the court heard both sides and a consensus was reached that the hard copy of the ASI's report will be provided to both sides...The ASI objected to providing the report via email. So, both sides agreed to get the hard copy of the report."

On January 3, the ASI filed an application in the Varanasi district court urging the Judge to delay the release of its Gyanvapi Survey Report by four weeks.

In its application, the ASI asked for the court to hold on to the report in the 1991 suit pertaining to the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi Mosque dispute that is currently pending in the Allahabad High Court.

The Central agency submitted that if the survey report is unsealed and disclosed in public before the submission of the copy of the said survey report in the High Court, there are more chances of spread rumour and misrepresentation in public.

In July 2023, the Varanasi court directed the ASI to Conduct the scientific survey of the Gyanvyapi mosque premises. The ASI was also directed by the Allahabad HC to submit the report on the scientific investigation/ survey work.

Following the orders, the ASI conducted the survey work and prepared a detailed report and submitted the same in the Court on December 12, in sealed cover. The survey was conducted in the entire Gyanvapi mosque except for the "vajukhana" area for over 100 days.

The ASI survey was ordered by the district court after the petitioners claimed that the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing temple.