Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court Thursday dismissed the Gyanvapi mosque management committee’s petition challenging a lower court order for an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey at the contentious mosque — a decision that paves the way for the exercise to begin immediately.
Later, Varanasi district magistrate S. Rajalingam told the media that the survey will begin Friday.
The Anjuman Intezamia Mosque Committee’s petition challenged the Varanasi district court’s 21 July order that directed the ASI to survey all of the complex except for the sealed wazu khana — an ablution pond for devotees — where a Shivling was allegedly found last year.
In the Allahabad High Court order, a single-judge bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker said there was “no reason to doubt” the ASI’s statement that no damage will be caused to the Gyanvapi mosque. The court was referring to ASI Additional Director (Archaeology) Alok Tripathi’s affidavit, in which he tried to allay the mosque management committee’s fears about possible damage to the shrine.
The survey, according to the bench, was essential “in the interest of justice”.
“Once the department of archaeology and learned senior counsel representing the department have made their stand clear that no damage is going to be caused to the property in question, this court has no reason to doubt their statements and most importantly, the affidavit filed by the officer of the ASI explaining the circumstances,” the court said.
“Further, it is a settled proposition of law that (the) issue of a commission, at this stage, is permissible,” it added, saying the petition before it “lacks substance and is liable to be dismissed”.
Sudhir Tripathi, a lawyer representing the Hindu side, told ThePrint the high court had summoned ASI’s Tripathi after the Muslim side conveyed their fears.
“Their (mosque committee) apprehension was that the masjid can be brought down using tools and hammers, etc. The ASI gave an affidavit saying that they won’t bring down the masjid,” he said, adding that the HC has ordered the survey to be carried out without any excavation.
ThePrint reached S.F.A. Naqvi, a senior advocate representing the mosque committee, via calls and messages. This report will be updated if and when he responds. The committee, however, has filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court.
The dispute stems from allegations that the 17th-century Gyanvapi mosque was built on the remains of a Hindu temple. In August 2021, five women — Lakshmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Rekha Pathak, Manju Vyas, and Rakhi Singh — had filed a petition in a district court in Varanasi seeking all-year-round worship rights at the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal, a temple within the contentious Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex.
The petition was initially backed by Hindu outfit Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh (VVSS) and its head Jitendra Singh Vishen. But in June this year, Vishen announced he and his family — including niece Rakhi Singh — were withdrawing from the case.
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What the court said
Varanasi district judge Ajay Kumar Vishwesha’s 21 July order for a scientific survey of the site followed an application by four of the five original petitioners.
The mosque committee had moved the Supreme Court, which stayed the survey until 26 July to give the Muslim side time to approach the HC.
In its order, the Allahabad HC said that the scientific survey/investigation proposed to be carried out “is necessary in the interest of justice and shall benefit the plaintiffs and defendants alike and come in aid of the trial court to arrive at a just decision”.
The Varanasi court, the order said, was justified in passing the impugned order, adding that it found “no substance in the argument of the committee that if during scientific investigation, any excavation is made, that would damage the structure in question and scientific investigation can only be made when, after adducing evidence, the court is unable to decide the dispute”.
Speaking to the media, Vishnu Jain, another lawyer representing the Hindu side in the dispute, said that the court had “upheld the decision of the district court in toto”.
What ASI affidavit says
In his affidavit, ASI Additional Director (Archaeology) Alok Tripathi said that the team would carry out a detailed study of the complex and document its findings.
“It is pertinent to mention here that scientific archaeological studies do not damage or remove the structure, rather they are preserved and wherever any structure is exposed that area is left unexecuted (sic),” the affidavit, which ThePrint has accessed, reads. “That it is further submitted that no drilling, no cutting, no removal of brick or stone from the existing structure will be done while conducting the survey and study.”
No wall or structure will be damaged, the affidavit says, adding that the entire exercise “will be conducted by non-destructive method by using techniques such as GPR survey, the other scientific methods and other modern techniques”.
A Ground Penetrating Radar survey, or a GPR survey, is a geophysical locating technique that uses radio waves to take images below ground level. It’s non-intrusive and doesn’t require digging up the soil.
ASI authorities are bound by law to protect and preserve archeological sites, the affidavit says.
It cites Rule 16 (e) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1959, which says “the licensee shall not, without the permission of the director general (DG), dismantle or disturb any structure found during the excavation operations and shall make adequate arrangements for the safety of such structures and of the excavated antiquities till they are taken charge by the DG”.
“That it is further submitted that the ASI will conduct a detailed survey in accordance with law and will prepare a list of antiquities which are found in (the) building and carry out (a) detailed survey and undertake the exercise to find (the) age and nature of the structure,” the affidavit says, adding that the ASI, acting on the court’s orders, “will conduct survey, documentation, photography, detailed description, GPR survey and full studies that all the aforesaid works would be carried without any damage to the structures”.
Meanwhile, Rakhi Singh, one of the original five petitioners, has moved another application in the Varanasi district court asking for the entire mosque complex to be sealed to prevent any “damage to the Hindu symbols” present there.
The petition is likely to come up before the court of Varanasi district judge Friday, Vishen, Rakhi Singh’s uncle and chief of VVSS, told ThePrint.
A previous version of the report said the petition is backed by VVSS chief Jitendra Singh. However, Singh had announced in June this year that he was withdrawing from the case. The error is regretted.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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