Gyanvapi case: Allahabad HC reserves order, survey of mosque on hold till Aug 3

“The judgment has been reserved. It will be pronounced on August 3. Till then, the survey (of the Gyanvapi mosque complex) will remain halted as per the High Court’s order today,” said Senior Advocate SFA Naqvi, who appeared on behalf of the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, the caretaker of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.

While challenging the district court’s order in the High Court, the mosque committee argued that such a survey to collect evidence is done at a later stage in the case after both parties submit evidence. The mosque committee also told the court that excavation work may damage the structural integrity of the Gyanvapi mosque.

“We argued that the suit filed by five women in the Varanasi court is not maintainable as it is barred by the Places of Worship Act, which says that the religious character of any religious place will remain the same as it was in 1947. We also told the court that the burden to collect evidence lies on the litigants and the district court can’t do it for them,” added Naqvi.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who represented the four women seeking a survey of the mosque complex, said, “We argued that the so-called mosque’s western wall is of a Hindu temple… We presented the findings of the (last year survey) Commission before the High Court… We argued that there is nothing wrong with the district court’s order of conducting a survey.”

Jain was referring to the report of a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque that was done last year on an order issued by a Varanasi court. Following the survey, the wuzukhana area of the mosque was sealed on the orders of the Supreme Court after Hindu litigants pointed to the presence of what they identified as a Shivling. The Muslim litigants, on the other hand, say the object is a fountain.

In its order last Friday, the Varanasi court directed the ASI to do a “scientific investigation/survey/excavation” of the Gyanvapi mosque premises and to “find out” whether the “present structure” was “constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple”.

Allowing an application by four Hindu women petitioners, District and Sessions Judge Dr Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha, in his July 21 order, directed the ASI to “conduct Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey just below the three domes of the building in question and conduct excavation if required”.

The survey was to exclude the wuzukhana area.

The order was challenged in the Supreme Court on Monday. A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud put the Varanasi court order on hold until July 26 to allow the mosque committee to move the High Court against the district court’s order.