Allahabad High Court allows ASI survey of Gyanvapi Mosque

In a significant verdict, the Allahabad high court on Thursday rejected the petition filed by the Muslim litigants seeking a stay on the Varanasi court's order for a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque premises by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and ruled that the ASI survey would continue.

A single judge bench comprising chief justice Pritinker Diwaker had, last week reserved its ruling on the petition filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which looked after the Gyanvapi Mosque, after hearing arguments from the counsels of both the Hindu and Muslim petitioners.

The court said that the survey was needed in the ''interest of justice''. It said that the order of the Varanasi court was justified. The HC also said that no digging would be done in the premises.

Read | Gyanvapi mosque survey: Here is what ASI is looking to find

The ASI would conduct the survey of the premises barring the 'wuzukhana' (the area where the Muslims wash themselves before offering prayers), the court said.

The court referred to the ASI affidavit and said that the latter had submitted that it would conduct a ''detailed survey and prepare a list of the antiquities which are found in the building and undertake the exercise to find age and nature of the structure......ASI will conduct survey, documentation, photography, detail description, GPR survey and full studies without harming the existing structure''.

''A scientific survey/investigation proposed to be carried out by the Commission is necessary in the interest of justice and shall benefit the plaintiffs and defendants alike and come in the aid of the trial court to arrive at a just decision,'' the court said.

The court also said that ''as the proceeding of the Suit has been lingering on for long, it would be appropriate to observe that the court concerned shall make all endeavour to conclude the proceedings expeditiously without granting unnecessary adjournments to either of the parties by giving short dates''.

The Varanasi court had on July 21 directed the ASI to conduct a scientific survey of the premises. The survey work however could not start as the Supreme Court stayed the order and directed the Muslim litigants to approach the Allahabad high court.

During the hearing in the high court Jain had said that in the earlier survey conducted by the Commissioner, evidence like ''swastika sign'', indicating that the structure (Gyanvapi Mosque) was in fact a temple had surfaced. ''The ASI survey can reveal crucial evidence as had happened in the Ram Janmabhoomi case,'' Jain contended.

The counsel for the Masjid Committee had, however, opposed the contention of Jain and said that the Survey was an attempt to gather evidence. ''The court can not gather evidence...the complainant has to furnish evidence,'' he had said.

The premises had been a bone of contention between the two communities for the past several decades but there was renewed clamor to ''take back'' the Kashi Vishwanath Temple premises by the saffron outfits after the favourable decision of the apex court in the Ram Temple case.

The Hindu petitioners contended that a part of the temple had been demolished by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century. The Muslim side contended that the Mosque existed before the reign of Aurangzeb and also claimed that the same had also been mentioned in the land records.