The Varanasi High Court will today decide whether the ‘scientific survey’ report of Gyanvapi mosque submitted by the Archaeological Survey of India should be made public or not. The survey of the mosque premises, excluding the ‘wazukhana’ sealed by the Supreme Court, was ordered by the Varanasi court to check if the late-17th century mosque was built over a Hindu temple.
The Archaeological Survey of India on Monday submitted the report as a sealed document. The Muslim side opposed a public report saying it is a sensitive issue, while the Hindu side has objected to a sealed report.
On Tuesday, Allahabad High Court rejected all petitions by the mosque committee challenging civil suits that seek restoration of a temple at the mosque site. The high court asked the Varanasi court to complete hearing in one of these civil suits, filed in 1991, within six months.
Right-wing groups claim a temple was demolished, by order of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, to make room for the mosque, which is adjacent to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
The survey started after the Allahabad High Court upheld the Varanasi court order. The High Court said the survey was “necessary in the interest of justice” and would benefit both sides in the dispute.
The Gyanvapi mosque committee then moved the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order but, on August 4, refused a stay; a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, however, directed the ASI to not carry out invasive acts, which ruled out excavations the Varanasi court had cleared.
The top court ordered non-invasive methods of survey and said certain areas – including a structure found in a video survey in April last year and claimed by petitioners as a ‘shivling’ – were off-limits.
This was after the mosque management committee claimed the ASI was digging in the basement and other places of the 354-year-old complex without permission, posing a risk it might collapse.
