The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday stayed the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises till Thursday (July 27) while orally expressing “strong doubts” about the work.
This is the second time the ASI survey has been stayed during the week. The Supreme Court had stayed the survey on July 24, giving the Gyanvapi mosque management “breathing time” to approach the High Court.
Explained | The Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath dispute and the current case
A Bench headed by Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker ordered the stay to continue while scheduling the case at 3.30 p.m. on July 27. The High Court asked for an ASI official to be present in the courtroom.
Error corrected
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud corrected an inadvertent error in its July 24 order. The apex court, while disposing of the mosque management’s application against the ASI survey on Monday, had mistakenly closed its pending appeal against an Allahabad High Court decision which upheld the maintainability (under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure) of the Hindu women plaintiffs’ suit for declaration of their right to worship at the premises.
The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, the mosque’s managers, had drawn the attention of the court to the error in an urgent mentioning. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for both the Uttar Pradesh government and the ASI in the case, seconded the committee’s plea to right the error.
The mosque management has moved the High Court against a July 21 order of the Varanasi District Court to conduct the scientific survey of the mosque premises located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
The ASI, in both the Supreme Court on July 24 and the High Court on Wednesday, was at pains to assure that the survey was “non-invasive”. Mr. Mehta had informed the apex court on July 24 that the survey team was only conducting mapping, ground-penetrating radar survey and photography of the premises.
The High Court reacted sharply when the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee voiced its apprehensions that the historic structure might fall during the survey. The committee also questioned the “hot haste” in which the survey began within a couple of days of the Varanasi court order.
“What is the hot haste? This mosque has been a place of worship since the 1600s… They want to know if there was any pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple… No time was given for us to even file an appeal. The order specifically says scientific investigation/survey/excavation of the property in question,” senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi had submitted on July 24 before the apex court.
