NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed that the Varanasi court order on conducting a scientific survey of Gyanvapi mosque shall not be enforced until 5 pm on July 26.
It also ordered that no invasive work would be undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple.
The top court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Uttar Pradesh government, to inform the ASI team that there should not be any “invasive work” or excavation at the site.
Meanwhile, a plea was moved by the mosque committee today.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of submissions made by senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who appeared in the court on behalf of the mosque committee, that the matter be heard urgently.
Opining that “breathing time should be granted to the Muslim side”, the bench asked the mosque committee to approach the Allahabad High Court and directed the Registrar General of the HC to ensure listing of the plea.
On Monday morning, a 30-member team of the ASI entered the Gyanvapi complex to carry out a scientific survey in accordance with court orders to determine if the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple was built upon a temple.
A Varanasi court had directed the ASI on Friday to conduct a “detailed scientific survey” — including excavations, wherever necessary — to determine if the mosque was built at a place where a temple existed earlier.
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.
