Gyanvapi case: A look at labyrinth of litigation in flaring Varanasi row

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. It also told the court that excavation work may damage the structural integrity of the Gyanvapi mosque.

On July 21, while allowing an application by four Hindu women petitioners, District and Sessions Judge Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha 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 or ablution area, which was sealed last year on the Supreme Court’s order after the Hindu litigants claimed that they had identified a “Shivling” there, which was called a fountain by the Muslim defendants.

The district court’s order was challenged in the apex court. 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.

The four women petitioners are those who had earlier filed a suit seeking the right to worship Maa Shringar Gauri on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, which is located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

In a separate case, the Allahabad High Court reserved its judgment on a clutch of petitions related to the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute and fixed August 28 to pronounce its verdict. The high court was hearing a petition filed by the mosque committee challenging an April 2021 order of a Varanasi court, which had ordered an ASI survey. The high court is expected to give its verdict on whether the survey should be done or not and whether this case is barred by the Places of Worship Act, 1991.

Earlier, a week after the Allahabad High Cour ordered a scientific survey of a “Shivling” at the Gyanvapi mosque complex in May this year, the apex court deferred the implementation of this order, issuing notices on appeal filed by the mosque committee challenging the high court’s order.

While a trial court had rejected a plea by the Hindu side for a scientific survey of a “Shivling”, the HC ordered its survey, including carbon dating.

On April 8 last year, while hearing a petition filed by five local women, Civil Judge (Senior Division), Varanasi, Ravi Kumar Diwakar had ordered a survey at the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque site by a court-appointed Commission of the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal. It directed the Commission to “prepare videography of the action” and submit a report.

The survey of the premises was conducted over three days and concluded on May 16 last year. The inspection was done in the presence of the court-appointed Advocate Commissioners, lawyers from both sides, all parties concerned and officials. During the survey, a structure – claimed to be a “Shivling” by the Hindu side and a “fountain” by the Muslim side – was found in the mosque premises.

In November last year, the Supreme Court had extended its interim direction securing the area in the Gyanvapi complex where the “Shivling” was claimed to have been found without impeding or restricting the rights of Muslims to access and offer namaz there till further orders.

The decades-old litigation around the 17th century mosque has gained momentum since 2021 after five Hindu women filed a suit in a civil court to seek the right to worship Maa Shringar Gauri on the Gyanvapi Masjid’s outer wall. The matter has since moved from a civil court to a district court, to the high court and the apex court, and back to the district court and the high court.