Gyanvapi: Varanasi court dismisses plea for fresh ASI survey through excavation
The survey was halted after the mosque committee approached the Allahabad High Court, and later the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the exercise.
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The Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi. (File Photo)A VARANASI court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by the Hindu petitioners seeking a fresh survey by excavation of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), specifically focusing on areas not previously surveyed by the ASI.
On October 16, the court had reserved its order in this regard, following the completion of arguments. Advocate Akhlaq Ahmad, representing the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, said they (Muslim petitioners) had objected to the application. Ahmad added that they argued there was no need for another survey at present, and any unresolved aspects from the prior survey could be considered later if necessary.
“We argued on the basis of legal points and the court rejected the petition,” Ahmad said, adding that they are yet to review the order in full.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the Hindu petitioners, Vijay Shankar Rastogi, told mediapersons that they would challenge the decision in a higher court, claiming that a “comprehensive scientific survey was needed”.
In its order on Friday, the court said, “Since it has been already directed by the High Court of Allahabad and the Supreme Court that no excavation or destruction will be done at the site of the survey and the entire survey will be conducted by non-invasive methodology, the prayer of the plaintiff cannot be allowed.” “The application is hereby rejected,” it added.
Secretary of Anjuman Intezamiya Masajid Committee Muhammad Yaseen welcomed the judgment. In December last year, the ASI submitted its report on a scientific survey it had undertaken at the Gyanvapi mosque complex in a Varanasi court that had ordered it to ascertain whether the mosque was “constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple”.
On July 21, 2023, the Varanasi court ordered a scientific survey of the complex to ascertain whether the mosque was “constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple”. District and Sessions Judge A K Vishvesha directed the ASI to “undertake scientific investigation/survey/excavation at the property in question i.e. settlement plot number 9130 (Gyanvapi mosque)”. The survey was to exclude the wazukhana area, which was sealed on the Supreme Court’s order.
However, the survey was halted after the mosque committee approached the Allahabad High Court, and later the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the exercise. Both courts subsequently cleared the decks for the survey and it was resumed.
— WITH PTI INPUTS
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