Welcoming the Allahabad High Court's decision to uphold the Sessions court order on conducting the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya said the "truth will come out" and the issue will be resolved. Allahabad HC pronounced its order on Thursday in response to a plea against a Varanasi district court order directing the ASI to conduct a survey to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque was built on a temple.
The plea was filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque and had moved the high court on July 25. This move came a day after the Supreme Court halted the ASI survey until 5 pm on July 26, allowing time for the mosque management committee to appeal against the lower court's order.
Syed Mohammad Yasin, Joint Secretary of the Gyanvapi Masjid Committee, in a phone conversation with ABP News, said that they are awaiting the detailed decision from the court. He emphasized that they will certainly challenge the court's decision in the Supreme Court and that their legal team is currently preparing for the appeal.
"Hope that the ASI survey will not commence until their petition is filed in the Supreme Court. Presently, the committee is awaiting further information on the court's ruling, expressing that some of their arguments have not been accepted by the court during the proceedings," he told ABP News.
The Varanasi district court had earlier instructed the ASI to carry out the survey, including excavations, if necessary, to determine whether the mosque was constructed on the site of a pre-existing temple.
On Wednesday, two more pleas were filed in the Varanasi district court and the Allahabad High Court seeking protection of "Hindu signs and symbols" in the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi.
One of the petitioners in the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri case, Rakhi Singh, filed the plea in the Varanasi district court, accusing the Muslim side of destroying Hindu symbols and demanding protection of the complex. The court has scheduled the hearing for August 4.
In a public interest litigation filed before the Allahabad High Court, the petitioners sought directions to the state government and the district administration to seal the entire Gyanvapi mosque premises without affecting the ASI survey, to prevent any potential damage to Hindu signs or symbols found during the survey. The petition also urged that non-Hindus be restrained from entering the "old temple area" in the complex until the disposal of suits pending in the district court of Varanasi on the Gyanvapi issue.
The petitioners, in this case, include Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh chief Jitender Singh “Visen,” Rakhi Singh, and a few others.