Prayagraj, New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday extended the stay on a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) till Thursday.
The high court was hearing a plea against a Varanasi district court order directing ASI to conduct a survey to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque was built upon a temple.
ASI team: Not going to destroy the structure
The ASI team was not going to “destroy the structure (mosque)” in any way, a senior ASI official who was present during the hearing told the court.
After hearing the plea by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the mosque, Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday and ordered that the stay on the ASI survey will continue till then.
During the hearing in the morning session on Wednesday, Chief Justice Diwaker asked the additional solicitor general of India to call any expert member of ASI from Varanasi to demonstrate to the court how survey will be conducted, and fixed 4:30 pm for further hearing in the matter.
Alok Tripathi, Additional Director of ASI, then filed an affidavit before the court regarding the survey process.
The counsel for mosque committee, SFA Naqvi, submitted that while passing the order on July 21, the Varanasi district court had come to the conclusion that in absence of a survey report, the issue cannot be decided but the court did not discuss the materials before it to come to such a conclusion.
Supreme Court order
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a Gyanvapi panel plea it inadvertently disposed of on July 24 while staying an ASI survey on the mosque premises to determine if it was built upon a temple.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia of the Gyanvapi mosque. He said the main plea was disposed of by the court on the last date of hearing instead of the interim plea seeking halting of the ASI work.
On July 24, the top court halted till 5 pm Wednesday a “detailed scientific survey” by the ASI to determine if the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government and the ASI, said he has no objection to the revival of the special leave petition of the mosque committee.
