The Supreme Court directed that the Varanasi district court’s order for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to survey the disputed Gyanvapi mosque complex should not be enforced until 5 pm on July 26, to allow Muslim parties time to appeal to the Allahabad High Court. The survey of the mosque complex, located near the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, began around 8 am on Monday.
“We allow the petitioners to approach the High Court to challenge the District Judge’s order in Varanasi. Considering that the district court’s order was issued on July 21, 2023 at 4:30 pm, and the survey is ongoing today, we believe the petitioners should have time to seek relief from the High Court. Therefore, we order that the District Court’s order not be enforced until 5 pm on July 26, 2023,” ruled a bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.
“If the petitioners appeal to the High Court in the meantime, the Judicial Registrar will ensure that it is heard by the appropriate bench promptly. This should be done before the status quo order from this court expires,” the ruling stated.
The bench, which also included Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, instructed the Solicitor General (SG) to inform the ASI of its order. Despite the petitioners requesting until July 28, the court felt that the deadline of July 26 was sufficient for them to approach the high court.
Initially, the apex court was hesitant to order a complete status quo and sought clarification from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on whether any invasive methods like excavation were being carried out. The SG clarified that no such methods were being used, only non-invasive techniques like measurements, photography, and radar imaging.
The bench acknowledged the SG’s statement and noted that it seemed the ASI did not plan to excavate for a week based on the order. The petitioners were given the freedom to appeal to the high court.
Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the mosque committee, questioned the rush to conduct the survey now when it had not been done for centuries. SG Mehta and senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing the state and respondent parties respectively, opposed the request for status quo, but the court proceeded with it and adjusted the earlier order.
An ASI team of around 20 officials from Agra, along with administrative officials, entered the premises on Monday morning equipped for the scientific survey. Lawyers for the plaintiffs were allowed entry, but no lawyers from the Muslim side were present. Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order-Varanasi) Santosh Kumar Singh confirmed heavy security measures were in place for the survey.
(With contributions from Manish Sahu, Lucknow)
