The Varanasi court gave directions Friday for a scientific survey of the historic Gyanvapi mosque premises by the Archaeological Survey of India.
District and Sessions Judge Dr Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha ordered the ASI survey after allowing the application of four Hindu women petitioners.
The court said the ASI should submit a “preliminary report” on August 4, the next date of hearing, explaining how the “scientific survey” will be done.
The survey will exclude the wuzu khana area which was sealed in 2022 on the orders of the Supreme Court after Hindu petitioners pointed to the presence there of what they identified as a Shivling. The Hindu women were filing a suit seeking the right to worship their deity on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
The Hindu nationalists have been campaigning that the historic mosque was built on the site of the original Kashi Vishwanath temple, while Muslims maintain that the mosque was built on Waqf premises, and that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 barred changing the character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.
