The Allahabad High Court has given a go-ahead for the Gyanvapi mosque survey. The court pronounced its order on a plea by mosque committee, challenging Varanasi district court’s direction to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey to determine if the Gyanvapi masjid was built on a temple.
While delivering the judgment, the High Court emphasizes that a “scientific survey is necessary in the interest of justice".
According to Vishnu Shankar Jain, the survey will be conducted in compliance with an affidavit filed by ASI, and it will take effect immediately. The court has not imposed any specific time limit for the survey, and legally, the survey can be conducted at any point in time. It is expected that the survey will likely commence from today.
While speaking to CNN-News18, petitioner Sita Sahu said: “We have been emphasizing from the outset that the survey should take place."
Sahu added: “I think the same ASI team will come. They do it very carefully and do not damage anything. It’s a scientific process."
“I welcome this verdict. I am confident that the truth will come out after the ASI survey and Gyanvapi issue will be resolved," UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya on Allahabad HC, allowing ASI survey of Gyanvapi mosque complex.
The legal team of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, however, confirmed to CNN-News18 that they will determine their next course of action after receiving the detailed order.
Speaking about the court order, AIMPLB member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali said: “We are hopeful that justice will be done as this mosque is around 600 years old and Muslims have been offering namaz there for the last 600 years. We also want that the Places of Worship Act should be enforced at all places of worship in the country. The Muslim side will think about approaching SC challenging this order."
Two pleas were filed in the Varanasi district court and the Allahabad High Court seeking protection of “Hindu signs and symbols" in the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi.Rakhi Singh, one of the petitioners in the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri case, filed the plea in the Varanasi district court on Wednesday, accusing the Muslim side of destroying Hindu symbols and demanding protection of the complex.
Source: News18
