The Varanasi Gyanvapi mosque complex is being surveyed by the Archaeological Survey of India, thanks to permission from the Allahabad High Court on Thursday.
“Allahabad High Court has said that ASI survey of Gyanvapi mosque complex will start. Sessions court order is upheld by the High Court,” Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in Gyanvapi survey case told reporters. The Allahabad High Court dismissed Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s plea, challenging the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the mosque complex, adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.
The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee had challenged the Varanasi District Judge’s July 21 order.
On July 21, Varanasi district judge AK Vishvesha ordered the ASI survey of the Gyanvapi complex on an application moved by four Hindu women on May 16, 2023.
The order of the district judge, however, excluded the Wuzu Khana (ablution pond area) of the complex, which has been sealed on the order of the top court.
Earlier the Allahabad High Court asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to not start the survey of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi as the hearing on the matter is underway after Supreme Court put on hold till 5 pm July 26 a detailed scientific survey by the ASI to determine if the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple.
The district court ruling ordering the ASI to undertake the contentious survey was being challenged in court.
On July 24, the Supreme Court accidentally dismissed an appeal from the committee contesting the maintainability of a lawsuit filed by Hindus in the trial court demanding the right to worship within the mosque. The Supreme Court later addressed this error in its ruling relating to the Gyanvapi mosque issue.
On July 24, the top court decided the main case while also granted relief on the interim plea by postponing the ASI survey.
The mosque committee had petitioned the supreme court for a stay on ASI work in the ongoing case with its interim appeal.