Pause on Gyanvapi ASI study extended by 1 day

The Allahabad high court on Wednesday extended by a day the stay on a controversial survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex in Varanasi as it decided to continue hearing the mosque committee’s objections to the exercise meant to determine if it was built over a pre-existing temple.

- Jitendra Sarin

 

Allahabad high court chief justice Pritinker Diwaker was hearing the petition filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) challenging the July 21 order of the court of the Varanasi district judge for a survey of the barricaded area of the Gyanvapi mosque premises by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The hearing will resume at 3.30pm on Thursday.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)– which was carrying out the exercise before it was stopped by the Supreme Court on Monday – also told the high court that it will not damage any structure during the survey.

The Gyanvapi dispute dates back decades, but on July 21, while hearing a petition by four Hindu women, the Varanasi district court directed ASI to conduct a comprehensive survey, using dating, excavation and ground penetrating radar (GPR) techniques, of the plot where the mosque stands, next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The judge, however, excluded a section – where the Hindu side claims a Shivling was found and the Muslims say the structure is part of a fountain -- that has remained sealed since a Supreme Court order in May 2022.