Allahabad HC Extends Stay on Gyanvapi Mosque Survey, Verdict on August 3

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has reserved its verdict on a plea challenging a Varanasi district court order instructing the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey to determine whether the Gyanvapi mosque was built on a temple. The stay on the ASI survey will remain in effect until August 3, when the court will deliver its final decision on the contentious survey.

Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker presided over today’s hearing on the plea filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque. The counsel for the mosque committee, SFA Naqvi, pointed out that the suit’s maintainability, filed by five plaintiffs, is currently pending before the Supreme Court. Naqvi emphasized that neither the trust nor the temple in-charge raised the issue, but individuals from various parts of the country filed separate suits.

In court, the mosque committee’s counsel presented photographs of ASI’s digging equipment taken when it first arrived at the mosque premises, suggesting questionable intentions. However, a senior ASI official assured the court that their team had no intention of causing any harm to the mosque’s structure during the survey.