Allahabad HC junks Masjid Committee plea, ASI survey to resume today

The Allahabad High Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the Anjuman Itzamia Masjid Committee against the district court order. The district court had directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey to determine whether the Gyanvapi mosque was built over a temple. After the rejection of the petition of the Anjuman Itzamia Masjid Committee and the clear order of the Allahabad High Court, the ASI scientific survey of the Gyanvapi campus will be started from Friday morning.
Earlier, the Varanasi district court had directed the ASI to conduct a detailed scientific survey, which would also include carrying out excavations if required. The district court had said that it could be ascertained whether the mosque situated near the Kashi Vishwanath temple was built over a temple or not.
The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the mosque, presented its stand before thSupreme Court and sought time to challenge the district court’s order in the High Court. On the request of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, the Supreme Court had ordered to maintain the status quo of the Gyanvapi complex and stopped the ASI survey till 26 July. After this, the mosque committee had moved the High Court.
Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Pritinkar Diwakar had reserved the judgment on July 27 after hearing the arguments of both the sides. However, on Thursday, the High Court dismissed the mosque committee’s plea and upheld the district court’s order for the ASI survey, saying there was no reason to doubt the ASI’s assurance that the survey would not cause any damage to the structure.
Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the petitioner Hindu devotees, said the High Court judgment is significant, and has rejected the argument made by the Anjuman Intezamia about the survey affecting the structure of the mosque. Vishnu Jain said to the media, “The High Court clearly stated that the order of the District Court’s survey is just and proper and should be implemented immediately”.
Vishnu Jain said, it is also worth noting that the Masjid Committee had argued before the Supreme Court that they were not given a chance to approach the High Court. On this, the High Court considered all their arguments before deciding to implement the order of the district court with immediate effect.
Vishnu Jain also stated that the ASI survey has been ordered to reach its logical conclusion. ASI’s Additional Director Alok Tripathi assured the court that the ASI would not do any digging in the structure during the survey and the ‘Vuzukhana’, the compound where Hindu devotees claim the ‘Shivling’ is located, will not be included in the survey.