New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday allowed a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), saying it was “necessary in the interest of justice”.
The court dismissed an appeal filed against the survey by the mosque administration – Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee – challenging the survey ordered by the Varanasi district court on 21 July.
The court said: “The Varanasi Court was justified in ordering an ASI survey of the premises.”
The mosque is adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi where Hindus have sought the right to worship, claiming it was built on a temple.
On 21 July, Varanasi District Judge A.K. Vishvesh directed the ASI to conduct a detailed scientific survey — including excavations, wherever necessary — to determine if the mosque was built at a place where a temple existed earlier.
The demand for this survey was raised by four Hindu women on 16 May, 2023.
The mosque committee appealed against this order, arguing that the survey might damage the historic structure.
Incidentally, while hearing the appeal on 26 July, the Allahabad High Court bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker had expressed “strong doubts” about the ASI’s methodology. He was not convinced when their lawyers argued that the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) method would not damage the structure.
The ASI also told the court that a team from IIT Kanpur would be called for a radar and GPR survey.
However, the ASI survey will now begin without delay, lawyer from the Hindu side Vishnu Shankar Jain said Thursday.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali said: “We are hopeful that justice will be done as this mosque is around 600 years old and Muslims have been offering namaz here for the last 600 years. We also want the ‘Places of Worship Act’ to be enforced at all places of worship in the country. The Muslim side will think about approaching the Supreme Court to challenge this order.”
Five Hindu women were the original litigants in the case, who in August 2021, moved court seeking daily worship rights at the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal within the contentious Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex.
A lower court then ordered a video survey of the complex which found a structure in the ablution pond or the “wazoo khana”. The Hindu side claimed it was a Shivling while the Muslim side said it was part of a fountain.
This area was subsequently sealed by the Supreme Court — given the sensitivity of the matter — and will not be part of the ASI survey.
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