Gyanvapi mosque case: SC stops ASI survey till Wednesday, asks to maintain status quo

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi till 5 pm on Wednesday and asked it to maintain the status quo in the meantime.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandarchud, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that in the meantime, the petitioners, i.e. the Muslim party, may approach the Supreme Court against the Varanasi District Court's order allowing the survey. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that currently only measurements, photography and radar imaging are going on and no excavation by the ASI is being considered for a week.

The court also said that the high court will hear the case by Wednesday evening. During the proceedings in the court, the ASI, through Advocate General Tushar Mehta, informed the apex court that at present only measurements, photography and radar imaging are being carried out at the site and no excavation work is being considered at the site for at least a week. The ASI began surveying the complex that houses the Gyanvapi Mosque around 7:00 am on Monday.

On 21 July, the Varanasi court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) "to conduct a scientific survey/survey/excavation of the premises using dating methods and other modern techniques to ascertain whether the mosque was built over any pre-existing Hindu temple structure" and submit a report to the court by 4 August. A survey chart was also ordered.

On Monday morning, a Muslim party aggrieved by the court order in Varanasi filed an application in the Supreme Court praying that the district court order be stayed as it was passed in the face of two previous orders of the High Court and the High Court which had stayed all survey work being done at the site of the Gyan Vapi Mosque. Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the Anjuman Intezamia masjid Varanasi Management Committee, submitted to the court that excavation work was going on at the Gyanvapi locality. "There is excavation work going on along the western wall," he said.

The court was also impressed that the district court had issued the survey order in haste, even before the court decided on the maintainability of the suits filed by the Hindu sites. Huzefa Ahmadi also submitted to the court that “what is the rush to survey the land? The site has been a mosque since 1500 and there has been no site survey since 1947. Why the rush?".

However, this was opposed by senior advocate Shyam Diwan, who appeared for the five Hindu women who filed the petition in the Varanasi court. The Diwan claimed that the survey work can continue as excavations are underway at the site.