Gyanvapi Masjid Case: Varanasi court allows scientific survey of mosque premises | India News

NEW DELHI: A Varanasi court on Friday granted permission for the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
The petition filed in the case by the Hindu side had sought a direction to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to survey the entire mosque complex.
A videographic survey of the Gyanvapi complex in May last year had revealed what the Hindu side claimed was a ‘Shivling’ inside the mosque premises. The Muslim side has insisted that the structure is merely a fountain.
The Varanasi court, however, clarified that the wuzukhana (place for ablution) where the ‘Shivling’ was found, will be kept out of the purview of the ASI’s “scientific survey”.
A petition by the Hindu side demanding carbon-dating of the “Shivling” is pending before the Supreme Court.
Report by August 4
The court of District Judge A K Vishwesha has directed the ASI to produce a study report by August 4.
The court further said the scientific survey by the ASI should take place between 8am-12noon.
The court clarified there will be no restrictions on Namaz and no damage should be caused to the Gyanvapi mosque.
‘Turning point in case’
Hailing the order, Advocate Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi, the counsel for the Hindu side, said this was a “turning point” in the case.

Another lawyer for the Hindu side, Vishnu Shankar Jain, said he had argued in court that the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque dispute can be resolved only by an archaeological investigation of the entire mosque complex and that it was crucial to “uncover whether the current structure (Gyanvapi mosque) was built on barren land or was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple”.
“It is also important to examine the age and nature of the construction of the western wall of the building and domes to check whether the top of temples existed beneath them. Besides, marks of Swastik, verses of shlokas evident on many walls and many other facts should also be examined,” he told the court.
The lawyer said the situation can become clear after examining “in a modern way” the three domes of the Gyanvapi complex and the western wall of the complex.
(With inputs from agencies)