Uttar Pradesh: Varanasi Court Rejects Plea to Halt ASI Survey of Gyanvapi Mosque Complex

The Varanasi court has rejected the Gyanvapi mosque management committee’s plea to stop the ongoing scientific survey of the complex by the Archaeological Survey of India. District Judge A K Vishvesh, responding to the plea filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid’s committee, stated that the survey had already received approval from both the Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court, as reported by PTI. The ASI was engaged in a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises, situated next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, with the objective of determining whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a Hindu temple. According to District Government Advocate Rajesh Mishra, the mosque management committee argued before the district court that the ASI survey was being conducted in violation of prescribed rules and should be halted. The mosque committee contended that no notice was served to the litigants, and no fees were charged in the process.