A Varanasi district court judge on January 24 allowed all parties to get the certified copy of the report of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey done at the Gyanvapi mosque.
This ASI, earlier this month, had asked the court to not to make the ASI report public or share it with other parties as this would spread misinformation as the matter is also sub judice in the Allahabad High court
The ASI has requested that even if the parties (both Hindus and Muslims) are getting the copy of the report, they must give an undertaking that they will not share it further with anyone.
The Varanasi district court, in its order on July 21, 2023, had asked the ASI to conduct a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque. The aim of the survey was to determine if the mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. The survey had taken place in the entire premise of the mosque except wuzukhana or ablution area.
The orders were given taking on record an undertaking made on behalf of the ASI that no excavation would be done at the site and no damage would be caused to the structure.
The survey started soon after the court order but was suspended after the matter reached Allahabad High Court which upheld the lower court’s order. The survey remained suspended for a brief time when the mosque committee reached Supreme Court. It recommenced on August 4, after the SC nod. The agency took months to complete the survey and file a report, that runs into hundreds of pages along with annexures, which was submitted in the court on December 18.
The orders of the survey came during the hearing of a suit filed Rakshi Singh, along with four other women, who sought the right to worship Hindu deities within the Gyanvapi mosque premises all-year round. In their claim, the plaintiffs had said that the Gyanvapi mosque and its premises was once a Hindu temple and that it was the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb who demolished the temple to build a mosque above it.
