Gyanvapi case: Varanasi court rejects Hindu side’s plea for additional ASI survey

Varanasi: In a setback to petitioners representing the Hindu side, a court in Varanasi on Friday rejected a plea seeking additional survey by the Archaeological Survey of India at the Gyanvapi complex.

Civil Judge (senior division), of Fast Track Court, Varanasi, dismissed the petition filed by Vijay Shankar Rastogi.

Talking to media persons after the court proceedings, Rastogi said: “We are planning to move High Court against the decision of the court rejecting our petition for additional survey.”

“We had said in our petition that the earlier ASI survey was incomplete… it did not cover the Wuzukhana and central dome. Also, the 2021 direction of the High Court to form a five-member team, including a representative of a Central university, was not followed during the earlier survey,” he said.

Lawyer Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi, who also appeared for the Hindu side, said: “The court did not accept our plea to allow an additional survey in areas like the Wuzukhana and central dome of the complex.”

The Gyanvapi Mosque has been at the centre of controversy with some believing it was built on the remains of the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Several petitions have been filed in different courts, including the Supreme Court, Allahabad High Court, and Varanasi District Court, to address different angles of this dispute.

The legal tussle dates back to 1991 when a petition was filed in Varanasi, seeking the restoration of Gyanvapi land to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. A claim was made that the mosque was constructed under the orders of Aurangzeb, who allegedly tore down a part of the temple in the 16th century.

Lawyer Rastogi filed a petition immediately after the Supreme Court’s Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute verdict in 2019. The court directed the ASI to conduct a scientific survey, sparking a series of legal actions and reactions.

The case saw various court interventions, including stays, extensions, and challenges to different orders. The Allahabad High Court in 2021 put a halt to proceedings in the Varanasi court, emphasising the Places of Worship Act, 1991, preventing changes in the religious character of a place of worship as of August 15, 1947.

IANS