Gyanvapi row: Supreme Court stays scientific survey till 5 pm on July 26

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed that the Varanasi court docket order on conducting a scientific survey of Gyanvapi mosque shall not be enforced till 5 pm on July 26.

It additionally ordered that no invasive work could be undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to find out if the Gyanvapi mosque positioned subsequent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was constructed upon a temple.

The prime court docket requested Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Uttar Pradesh authorities, to tell the ASI group that there shouldn’t be any “invasive work” or excavation on the website.

Meanwhile, a plea was moved by the mosque committee right now.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took notice of submissions made by senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who appeared within the court docket 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 requested the mosque committee to method the Allahabad High Court and directed the Registrar General of the HC to make sure the itemizing of the plea.

“We permit the petitioners to move the HC to challenge the order of District Judge Varanasi. Having regards to the fact that the order was pronounced at 4:30 pm on Friday (July 21) and the survey is in the process of being carried out today, we are of the view that some breathing time should be granted. Order of the district court should not be imposed until 5 PM till July 26, 2023,” the bench stated in its order.

On Monday morning, a 30-member group of the ASI entered the Gyanvapi advanced to hold out a scientific survey in accordance with court docket orders to find out if the mosque positioned subsequent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple was constructed upon a temple.

A Varanasi court docket had directed the ASI on Friday to conduct a “detailed scientific survey” — together with excavations, wherever vital — to find out if the mosque was constructed at a spot the place a temple existed earlier.

The mosque’s “wazookhana” (a small reservoir for Muslim devotees to carry out ritual ablutions), the place a construction claimed by the Hindu litigants to be a “Shivling” exists, is not going to be a part of the survey, following an earlier Supreme Court order defending that spot within the advanced.

District choose A Okay Vishvesh has directed the ASI to submit a report back to the court docket by August 4, together with video clips and images of the survey proceedings.

(With extra inputs from PTI)

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed that the Varanasi court docket order on conducting a scientific survey of Gyanvapi mosque shall not be enforced till 5 pm on July 26.

It additionally ordered that no invasive work could be undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to find out if the Gyanvapi mosque positioned subsequent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was constructed upon a temple.

The prime court docket requested Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Uttar Pradesh authorities, to tell the ASI group that there shouldn’t be any “invasive work” or excavation on the website.googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

Meanwhile, a plea was moved by the mosque committee right now.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took notice of submissions made by senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who appeared within the court docket 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 requested the mosque committee to method the Allahabad High Court and directed the Registrar General of the HC to make sure the itemizing of the plea.

“We permit the petitioners to move the HC to challenge the order of District Judge Varanasi. Having regards to the fact that the order was pronounced at 4:30 pm on Friday (July 21) and the survey is in the process of being carried out today, we are of the view that some breathing time should be granted. Order of the district court should not be imposed until 5 PM till July 26, 2023,” the bench stated in its order.

On Monday morning, a 30-member group of the ASI entered the Gyanvapi advanced to hold out a scientific survey in accordance with court docket orders to find out if the mosque positioned subsequent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple was constructed upon a temple.

A Varanasi court docket had directed the ASI on Friday to conduct a “detailed scientific survey” — together with excavations, wherever vital — to find out if the mosque was constructed at a spot the place a temple existed earlier.

The mosque’s “wazookhana” (a small reservoir for Muslim devotees to carry out ritual ablutions), the place a construction claimed by the Hindu litigants to be a “Shivling” exists, is not going to be a part of the survey, following an earlier Supreme Court order defending that spot within the advanced.

District choose A Okay Vishvesh has directed the ASI to submit a report back to the court docket by August 4, together with video clips and images of the survey proceedings.

(With extra inputs from PTI)