INDIA: On Thursday, August 3, the Allahabad High Court upheld the Varanasi District Court’s judgement from July 21 permitting the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex close to Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, with the exception of the “Wazukhana” area, which has been sealed.
The court rejected the Muslim side’s argument that the survey would weaken the “mosque’s” construction. The ASI survey of the Gyanvapi complex, according to the court, is “necessary in the interest of justice.” The legal representative for the Hindu side claims that the scientific survey will start “without any delay.”
Following the Allahabad High Court’s ruling, Deputy CM of Uttar Pradesh, Keshav Prasad Maurya, predicted that the ASI survey would reveal the Gyanvapi complex’s secret history. Maurya stated that he welcomes the ruling and is optimistic that the truth would be revealed following the ASI survey and that the Gyanvapi matter will be settled.
During the discussion with the media, Vishnu Jain Shankar, the lawyer representing the Hindu side, emphasised the significance of modern techniques used by the ASI. He said, “We told the court that there are many shield walls in Gyanvapi behind which there could be many things… The ASI survey will help ascertain the religious nature of the place.”
Timeline of events in the Gyanvapi row
April 1991: Hindu Priests filed a plea in the Varanasi Court, seeking the right to pray in the Gyanvapi complex, claiming that the mosque was constructed on the ancient Kashi Vishwanath temple.
September 1998: The Varanasi Court agreed to hear the case, but the proceedings were halted by the Allahabad High Court.
December 2019: New petitions requesting the ASI to conduct a survey of the Gyanvapi complex were submitted to the Varanasi Court.
February 2020: The Allahabad High Court resumed proceedings in the lower court, and later, the Varanasi Court resumed hearing the 2019 petitions.
August 2021: Five Hindu devotees filed a plea in a Varanasi civil court, requesting permission to offer daily prayers at the Gyanvapi mosque.
May 2022: The Supreme Court declined an interim order for the status quo on the survey of the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex but directed the Varanasi district magistrate to ensure its protection.
October 2022: The Varanasi district court rejected the plea for carbon dating of the Shivling.
November 2022: The Supreme Court agreed to establish a bench to hear the Gyanvapi case.
May 12, 2023: The Allahabad High Court mandates the use of contemporary technologies to determine the age of the Shivling.
May 19, 2023: The SC postpones the Shivling investigation.
July 21, 2023: The Varanasi District Court ordered the ASI to conduct the survey, including any necessary excavations, to ascertain whether the mosque was erected on the site of an ancient temple.
July 24, 2023: The ASI began the scientific survey with a 30-member team of experts. However, the Supreme Court halted the ASI’s survey until 5 p.m. on July 26 and requested the Allahabad High Court to hear the plea from the mosque panel.
July 25, 2023: The Muslim party involved in the Gyanvapi Shrinagar Gauri dispute case took the matter to the Allahabad High Court, contesting the Varanasi Court’s decision.
The Allahabad High Court subsequently permitted the ASI to carry out its scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex on August 3, 2023, citing that it was necessary for the interest of justice.
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