ASI submits survey report on Gyanvapi Mosque to Varanasi district court

The report was shared in a sealed cover and the same will be shared with the petitioners on December 21

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has submitted its scientific survey report on the Gyanvapi Mosque complex to the Varanasi District Court in a sealed cover on Monday, December 18, reported India Today (IT).

The news comes after the court granted a one-week extension to the ASI to submit its survey report on the Gynavapi Mosque complex in Varanasi. The report will be shared with the petitioners on December 21. A copy of the report will also be sent to the apex court, the IT report said.

The counsel representing the Hindu side, Madan Mohan Yadav said, "The ASI today submitted its scientific survey report before the Varanasi District Court."

Why is the survey being conducted?

The ASI was conducting a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi premises, located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The survey aims to find out whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. The survey was instituted after a Allahabad High Court order that upheld the Varanasi district court order and ruled that the scientific survey was essential to and "necessary in the interest of justice" and would benefit both Hindu and Muslim communities.

Supreme Court's direction on survey

After the Allahabad High Court direction, the Gyanvapi committee moved to the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the order. However, the apex court, on August 4, ruled in favour of Allahabad High Court's order and refused to order a stay, the IT report said.

However, the bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra directed the ASI not to conduct any invasive act in the course of the survey. In other words, the apex court denied the ASI any excavations. The Varanasi district court, in its order, had said that excavation could be carried out if need be.