The Allahabad High Court is set to hear a civil revision petition today filed by the Hindu party seeking an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the Wazukhana (pond) located within the Gyanvapi complex. This comes as part of the ongoing legal dispute concerning the religious site.
The hearing in the original suit (No. 610/1991) titled Swayambhu Lord Vishweshwar vs. Anjuman Intejamia Masjid was postponed on Wednesday due to a condolence meeting that halted legal proceedings at the district court. The Fast Track Court (FTC) of the Civil Judge (Senior Division) has rescheduled the hearing for August 22, according to the plaintiff's advocate, Vijay Shankar Rastogi.
Rastogi is advocating for an additional survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), specifically requesting the creation of a trench to reach the sanctum sanctorum of the Aadi Vishweshwar temple, where a Shivling and artisan well are allegedly buried beneath the mosque's central dome. On August 12, Rastogi concluded his arguments for this additional ASI survey, and the FTC had initially scheduled the next hearing for August 21, directing the Anjuman Intejamia Masjid (AIM) to submit its response by that date.
The court's April 8, 2021, order had originally instructed the ASI to conduct a comprehensive survey of the mosque. AIM challenged this order in the High Court, but the revision petition was dismissed on December 19, 2023, reaffirming the directive for the ASI to conduct a thorough survey. The ASI had already completed a survey in a separate suit (No. 18/2022) concerning the worship of Shringar Gauri and other deities within the Gyanvapi mosque compound, and its report was submitted on December 18, 2023.
Following the January 24, 2024, court order, Rastogi reviewed the ASI report and subsequently submitted his plea in February. In addition to his recent arguments, Rastogi has called for a survey of areas not covered in the previous investigation, such as the wuzukhana (ablution tank), which has been sealed by court order since May 16, 2022, due to claims of a Shivling being detected.
Rastogi's plea also seeks to determine whether the current religious structure is a superimposition on a pre-existing Hindu temple, the age and design of the original structure, and which deities it was dedicated to. The court will consider these matters in the upcoming hearing on August 22.
