Gyanvapi case: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday rejected the Muslim side plea and instructed the Archaeological Survey of India to continue survey. The High Court had on July 27 reserved till its verdict on 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. The ASI is expected to start survey from August 4.
The high court was hearing the plea filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the mosque. The HC in its ruling said, "Issue of commission is permissible. Varanasi Court justified. The scientific survey is necessary in the interest of justice."
However, the survey will not start today as the ASI team is not prepared. ASI officials will hold a meeting in Delhi on Thursday. Dismissing the petition on Thursday, the high court said there is no reason to not believe the ASI's assurance that the survey will not cause any damage to the structure. It asserted that no digging should be done at the mosque as part of the survey.
UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya welcomed the verdict and said, "I welcome this verdict. I am confident that the truth will come out after the ASI survey and Gyanvapi issue will be resolved.
On July 21, a Varanasi court directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct the survey, including excavations, wherever necessary, to determine if the mosque was built at a place where a temple existed earlier.
The mosque's 'wazukhana', where a structure claimed by 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. Hindu activists claim that a temple existed earlier at the site and was demolished in the 17th century on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
