Allahabad High Court is set to make a decision on the survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi on August 3. The court’s verdict comes after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was asked to refrain from conducting the survey until the matter was resolved.
Lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi mosque case, informed reporters that the interim order would remain in place until August 3. The plea against the district court’s directive for the ASI to conduct the survey was being heard by the Allahabad High Court.
In a recent development, the Supreme Court rectified its previous order concerning the Gyanvapi mosque case. The appeal of the committee questioning the admissibility of a suit filed by Hindus seeking worship rights inside the mosque was unintentionally disposed of by the apex court on July 24.
While granting interim relief by staying the ASI survey, the Supreme Court disposed of the main case. On July 24, the court had put a hold on the ASI’s scientific survey to determine whether the mosque was constructed on a temple site until July 26.
The mosque committee subsequently filed an interim plea in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the ASI’s work, which is still pending. On July 21, the Varanasi district judge ordered the ASI to survey the Gyanvapi complex based on an application submitted by four Hindu women in May 2023.
It is important to note that the district judge’s order excluded the ablution pond area, which had been sealed under the Supreme Court’s orders. On May 12, the Allahabad High Court had permitted the scientific survey of the purported Shivling but the Supreme Court stayed this order on May 19.
During a court-mandated survey conducted on May 16 last year, a structure claimed to be a Shivling by the Hindu side and a fountain by the Muslim side was discovered in the mosque premises adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
On October 14, 2022, the High Court set aside the Varanasi district judge’s order that rejected the application for a scientific examination and carbon dating of the Shivling. The High Court directed the district judge to proceed with the application by the Hindu worshippers for a scientific investigation of the Shivling in accordance with the law.
Petitioners Laxmi Devi and three others had challenged the lower court’s order in the High Court. The case continues to draw attention as the Allahabad High Court prepares to deliver its verdict on August 3.
