Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque Case: Allahabad HC Stays Varanasi Court Order On ASI Survey Of Disputed Site

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday (9 September) stayed the order of a Varanasi court which had called for a “comprehensive archaeological physical survey” of the disputed Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex.

The single-judge bench of Justice Prakash Padia said that the proceedings before lower court were prima facie bad in law, as the High Court was already seized of an issue relating to the dispute and had reserved its judgment on the same, reports Bar and Bench.

The order came on petitions filed by the UP Sunni Waqf Board and Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Varanasi against the Varanasi court order.

The order allowing ASI survey was passed by the Varanasi Court on 8 April earlier this year.

The plea before the Varanasi court had demanded the restoration of the land on which the Gyanvapi Mosque is located to Hindus on claims that Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had pulled down a portion of the 2000-year-old Kashi Vishwanath Temple to build the Gyanvyapi Mosque there in 1669.

The Varanasi court ordered the Director General of Archaeological Survey of India to “get a comprehensive archaeological physical survey” done of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex, and said that “the matter in dispute pertains to have connection with our deep history”.

The lower court also asked the ASI to “find out as to whether the religious structure standing at present at the disputed site is a superimposition, alteration or addition or there is a structural overlapping of any kind, with or over, any religious structure”, reports Indian Express.