Allahabad High Court on Thursday allowed the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi. “Allahabad High Court has said that the ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex will start. Sessions court order is upheld by the High Court,” Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi survey case told reporters. The Allahabad High Court dismissed Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s plea, challenging the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the mosque complex, adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee had challenged the Varanasi District Judge’s July 21 order. On July 21, Varanasi district judge AK Vishvesha ordered the ASI survey of the Gyanvapi complex on an application moved by four Hindu women on May 16, 2023.

The order of the district judge, however, excluded the Wuzu Khana (ablution pond area) of the complex, which has been sealed on the order of the top court. Earlier the Allahabad High Court asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to not start the survey of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi as the hearing on the matter is underway after Supreme Court put on hold till 5 pm July 26 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.

The court was hearing a plea against a district court order directing the ASI to conduct the controversial survey. Supreme Court earlier corrected its order in relation to the Gyanvapi mosque case whereby on July 24 it inadvertently disposed of an appeal of the committee questioning the maintainability of a suit by Hindus in the trial court seeking worship rights inside the mosque. While granting the relief on the interim plea by staying ASI survey, the top court disposed of the main case on July 24. The mosque committee had moved the top court with its interim plea in the pending petition seeking a stay of ASI work.

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday extended the stay on a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises by the Archaeological Survey of India till Thursday. The high court was hearing a plea against a Varanasi district court order directing the ASI to conduct a survey to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque was built upon a temple. During the hearing, a senior ASI official was present in the court. The official told the court that the ASI team was not going to “destroy the structure (mosque)” in any way.

After hearing the plea by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the mosque, Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday. The court ordered that the stay on the ASI survey will continue till then. The hearing of the case will resume at 3:30 pm on Thursday. 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 the survey will be conducted, and fixed 4:30 pm for further hearing in the matter. In pursuance of the court order, Alok Tripathi, Additional Director of ASI, was present in the court. He 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 conclusions 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. Naqvi also raised an objection that the ASI was not made party to the suit and still it was directed to conduct the survey and give its opinion in the matter.

ASI report to be further scrutinised

On this, counsel for the Hindu side Vishnu Shankar Jain argued that there is no such law that an expert has to be made party in a case where their opinion is sought, giving an example of handwriting experts who are never made party in a case. Naqvi also submitted before the court that plaintiffs have no evidence in their plaint and they wanted to produce evidence only with the help of the ASI survey. On this, the high court asked him that if law permits for such a way of collection of evidence (ASI survey/expert survey) then what harm will be caused to the petitioner. Naqvi said that this is not the proper stage in the trial before Varanasi district court for ASI survey/expert opinion.

However, Jain submitted that a survey by the ASI is not going to cause any harm to the structure. Report of the survey will be further subject to examination and proof, the Hindu side counsel said. On Tuesday, the counsel for the mosque committee had expressed his apprehension that the survey and excavation would cause damage to the structure. Naqvi also said that even in Ram Janmabhoomi case, order of a survey was passed after collection of oral evidence.

On Tuesday, the mosque committee had moved the high court, a day after the Supreme Court halted the ASI survey till 5 pm Wednesday, allowing time for the committee to appeal against the lower court’s order.

The Supreme Court on Monday halted a “detailed scientific survey” of the ASI to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple till 5 pm on July 26 and asked the Allahabad High Court to hear an appeal filed by the mosque committee before the expiry of its order. A Varanasi court directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Friday to conduct the survey — including excavations, wherever necessary — to determine if the mosque was built at a place where a temple existed earlier.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions made by senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who appeared in the court on behalf of the mosque committee, stayed the operation of the order till Wednesday evening and asked the committee to file an appeal in the meantime. “We are of the view that some breathing time should be granted to the mosque committee,” said the bench that also comprised Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

“We permit the petitioner (mosque committee) to move the high court under Article 227 (writ jurisdiction of high courts), challenging the order of the district judge of Varanasi, having taken regard of the fact that the order was passed at 4:30 pm on July 21 and the ASI survey is being carried out today.

No excavation work being conducted inside mosque premises

“To permit them some breathing time, we direct that the district court order shall not be enforced till 5 pm on July 26. If the petitioner moves the high court, the registrar-judicial of the high court shall ensure that it is placed before a roster (a bench) so that it is heard before the status quo order ends,” the bench said in its order. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Uttar Pradesh government, took instructions and informed the bench that the ASI is conducting photography and radar-imaging at the site and presently, no invasive or excavation work is underway.

Earlier, the bench said it will hear the plea during the day. 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. District Judge A K Vishvesh has directed the ASI to submit a report to the court by August 4, along with video clips and photographs of the survey proceedings. The masjid committee had also earlier stated that they were unaware of the survey being conducted on Monday as they had moved the apex court last week seeking a deferment on the survey for 2-3 days.

On Monday morning, a team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) started a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. People with knowledge of the situation claimed on Sunday that the survey is taking place despite the mosque management committee’s petition to the Supreme Court against the district court’s order permitting the inspection.

The ASI crew arrived in Varanasi on Sunday with all the necessary tools. A UP Police squad can be seen entering the Gyanvapi mosque compound as the ASI assessment started in a video that news agency ANI released. There are about 40 people involved, including representatives from ASI, the management committee at the Gyanvapi mosque, four plaintiffs who identify as Hindu women, and their solicitors.

#WATCH | Varanasi, UP: ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) to conduct survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex today

Visuals from outside the Gyanvapi premises pic.twitter.com/VrvywzKp99

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) July 24, 2023

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, Madan Mohan Yadav, one of the counsel, said.

Survey necessary for ‘true facts’ to be revealed

Late on Sunday evening, District Magistrate (DM) S Rajalingam had said the ASI team had reached Varanasi and the survey proceedings inside the Gyanvapi mosque campus would begin from 7 am on Monday. Varanasi Police Commissioner Ashok Mutha Jain and the DM held a meeting with both the Hindu and Muslim sides to the dispute on Sunday night to share information about the survey with them.

The Varanasi district court ordered the ASI to conduct a thorough assessment of the Gyanvapi masjid on Friday in order to determine whether the mosque was constructed atop an earlier Hindu temple. The court reasoned that this scientific inquiry is “necessary” in order for the “true facts” to be revealed. However, the court ruled that the disputed part of the complex be excluded because it has been sealed since the Supreme Court’s judgement in May 2022. Muslims contend that the area under the seal is actually a portion of a fountain, whereas Hindus assert that a Shivling has been discovered there.

The alleged “shivling,” which was discovered when another court requested a video survey of the facility, had already been ordered by the Supreme Court to be protected. 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 SC 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.