Advocate Anupam Dwivedi while speaking to the mediapersons said, “On all the applications filed for the purpose of historical evidence or any other evidence which is found during the commission proceedings or ASI survey, Varanasi district court has directed Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to prepare a list and preserve all objects, having historical significance found during the Scientific Survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises.
He further informed that the Court has also ordered ASI to present a copy of a list before it and the Varanasi District Magistrate.
Earlier, in August this year, the Allahabad High Court allowed the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi.However, the court, on Friday, granted four weeks’ additional time to the ASI to complete the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
The ASI was granted time till October 6, 2023 to complete the survey and submit the report.The Allahabad High Court dismissed a plea filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, challenging the ASI survey of the mosque complex adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.
The scientific survey of the complex, adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath Temple, excluding ‘wuzukhana’, began on August 4, following the Allahabad High Court’s order, allowing the ASI to conduct the survey to determine if the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. Though the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Allahabad High Court order, the top court declined to stay the scientific survey of the complex by the ASI.
