The Allahabad High Court has said that the stay on the survey of Gyanvapi Mosque will continue till Thursday. The hearing in the matter will begin at 3:30 pm. Before the completion of today’s hearing, the High Court had sought an affidavit from the ASI. The ASI filed an affidavit and said that the survey would not cause any damage to the structure of the Gyanvapi mosque.
According to the Hindu side, the hearing in the High Court was over and the verdict was about to be pronounced when the lawyers for the Muslim side sought two days’ time to respond to the ASI’s affidavit. On this, the High Court gave time till noon to the Muslim side on Thursday and fixed the hearing again at 3.30 pm.
Earlier, the Muslim side gave several arguments to declare the ASI survey unnecessary and the order of the survey outside the purview of the district court. The lawyers of the Muslim side also expressed apprehension that the fate of the Gyanvapi mosque may also be similar to the disputed structure in Ayodhya.
During the hearing, the High Court told the ASI that under no circumstances should there be any damage to the structure of the mosque.
The path that leads to ASI survey
In 2021, the Gyanvapi mosque attracted significant attention when a group of Hindu women sought permission from an Uttar Pradesh court to worship deities within the Gyanvapi complex. This request triggered a chain of events and legal actions.
Subsequently, a lower court ordered a video survey of the Gyanvapi campus. During this survey, an object was discovered, which some claimed was a Shivalinga (a symbol of Lord Shiva). However, the mosque management committee denied the claim, saying that the object was actually a part of a fountain in the wuzukhana (a pool used for washing hands and feet before prayer).
Considering the sensitive nature of the issue, the Supreme Court decided to seal off the pool area (vuzukhana) to prevent any further controversy or conflict.
In a later development, the Allahabad High Court dismissed the petition of the mosque committee challenging the legality of the request to worship Hindu deities within the mosque premises. The dismissal cleared the way for the Varanasi court to adjudicate on the matter, allowing the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex, except for the pool area.
The mosque committee approached the Supreme Court in another matter, but with the permission of the bench, the mosque committee’s advocates raised concerns about possible excavation activities that would take place during the ASI survey. In response, the Supreme Court ordered ‘status quo’ and directed the mosque committee to approach the Allahabad High Court.