The Supreme Court on Monday directed that order passed by the Varanasi District Court on July 21 for the ASI survey of the historic Gyanvapi Mosque should not be enforced till 5 PM on July 26.
The top court passed this order to allow some “breathing time” to the mosque committee to approach the Allahabad High Court challenging the District Court’s order, considering that it was passed on a Friday evening and clarified that it has not gone into the merits of the matter, Live Law reported.
“We permit petitioners to move High Court under article 227 challenging order of District judge Varanasi. Having regard to fact that order was passed on July 21 , 4:30 pm and ASI survey is being carried out today. To permit them some breathing time, we direct that the district court order SHALL NOT BE ENFORCED till July 26, 2023, 5 PM. Should petitioner move the High Court, the Registrar Judicial shall ensure it is placed before a roster so that it is heard before status quo order ends,” the Court said.
The order was passed by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra after hearing an urgent mentioning made by the Gyanvapi Mosque committee.
Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appeared for the Gyanvapi Mosque committee while Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appeared for the Hindu plaintiff.
