Supreme Court Stays ASI Survey Of Gyanvapi Mosque Till Wednesday

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Varanasi district court order until 5 pm on July 26 on the Gyanvapi mosque complex survey by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to ascertain whether the masjid was built over a pre-existing Hindu temple.

The top court also allowed the petitioners to approach the Allahabad High Court against the Varanasi district court order on ASI survey of the mosque complex.

The central government on Monday informed the top court that the ongoing survey by the Archaeological Survey of India at Varanasi's Gyanvapi Mosque will in no way alter the structure, stressing that "not a brick has been removed nor is it planned".

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that "not a brick has been removed nor is it planned to be removed. Right now what is going on is measurement, photography, and radar, which will not affect the structure."

The apex court recorded Mehta's statement that no excavation for at least a week is being mulled over.

"Let there be a status quo for the time being. No excavation, no invasive method until we hear it," Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.

Survey at Gyanvapi mosque

A 30-member team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) entered the Gyanvapi complex on Monday morning to carry out a scientific survey in accordance with court orders to determine if the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple was built upon a temple.

Besides the ASI team, which entered the complex around 7 am, the lawyers of all the Hindu petitioners to the legal dispute are also present at the spot.

District Judge A K Vishvesh directed the ASI on Friday to conduct a detailed scientific survey - including excavations, wherever necessary - to determine if the mosque in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh was built at a place where a temple existed earlier.

The mosque's "wazookhana" (a small reservoir for Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions), where a structure claimed by the Hindu litigants to be a "Shivling" exists, will not be part of the survey, following an earlier Supreme Court order protecting that spot in the complex.

The judge has directed the ASI to submit a report to the court by August 4, along with video clips and photographs of the survey proceedings.