Allahabad HC Extends Stay On ASI Survey Of Gyanvapi Mosque Complex Till Thursday

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday stayed the ASI Survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque Complex till Thursday and the matter will be heard tomorrow at 3:30 pm.

Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker heard the appeal filed by the Muslim party, contesting a Varanasi court order that granted permission to the ASI for conducting the survey.

As the hearing was not concluded, the High Court extended the interim stay, which had been imposed by the top court, until tomorrow. During the hearing in the evening, ASI officials were also called into the court. Arguments in the matter were presented by the mosque management committee and the Hindu side.

"ASI's Additional Director today filed an affidavit in Allahabad High Court stating that during the survey there will be no damage to the structure. The ASI survey will not take place till tomorrow when the court will hear this matter again at 3.30 pm," says Vishnu Shankar Jain, appearing for the Hindu side in the case.

On Friday, the Varanasi district court had ordered the ASI to conduct a survey, using technologies like ground penetrating radar and excavations, if necessary, to determine if a temple existed earlier at the same place.

However, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the survey of Varanasi's Gyanvapi Mosque till 5 pm on 26 July and asked the mosque committee to appeal a district court's order for such a survey in the Allahabad High Court.

The survey was sought by the original litigants, five Hindu women, who earlier sought permission to pray at the "Shringar Gauri Sthal" inside the shrine complex.The mosque is located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and Hindu litigants in the district court had sought the survey to determine whether a temple existed at the same spot earlier.