Gyanvapi Masjid Case: Allahabad HC Extends Stay On ASI Survey Of Premises Till Tomorrow

The HC was hearing a plea by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid challenging the Varanasi District Court's order allowing ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises.

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday extended the stay on Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the premises of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi till July 27. Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker said the court the matter would be heard at 3.30 pm on Thursday.

The HC was hearing a plea by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the mosque, challenging the Varanasi District Court's order allowing ASI survey of the masjid premises (except the wuzukhana).

The mosque committee moved the HC after the Supreme Court halted the ASI survey till July 26, allowing them time to appeal against the lower court's order.

During the hearing, the Chief Justice directed the ASGI (appearing for the ASI) to call an ASI official from Varanasi to the court with an affidavit explaining the structure and details of the proposed survey of the mosque.

The ASI official said modern technology would be used for the survey and there would be no damages to the structure. The official said only 5 per cent of the survey was completed and ASI would complete the remaining work by July 31.

During the hearing, the masjid committee said that the scientific survey could damage the mosque. The counsel for the committee, senior advocate SFA Naqvi, requested the High Court to set aside the July 21 order of the Varanasi court, saying it had acted in urgency.

The senior advocate also said that the survey order was passed at a very preliminary stage as the parties were not asked to produce their evidence.

Opposing the claim, advocate Vishnu Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi mosque case, stated that the Solicitor General had already assured the Supreme Court on Monday that there would be no damage to the mosque, and no excavation would be conducted.

Jain also submitted that in the Ram Mandir case, a survey was conducted by the ASI and it was accepted by the High Court as well as the Supreme Court.

The Gyanvapi mosque is located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and Hindu litigants had in the Varanasi District Court sought an ASI survey to determine whether a temple existed at the same spot earlier.

Last week, the Varanasi court ordered the ASI to conduct a survey using technologies like ground penetrating radar and excavations. The Supreme Court's pause order on Monday came while the ASI team was inside the mosque complex. They left the spot after the SC verdict.