 "SC orders stay on ASI survey at Gyanvapi mosque, asks Muslim side to approach HC soon")
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey at Gyanvapi mosque till 5 pm on 26 July and asked the mosque’s management committee to approach the Allahabad High Court soon.
Gyanvapi case | Supreme Court says no ASI survey of Gyanvapi mosque complex till 5 pm, July 26th.
— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2023
High Court order shall not be enforced till 26th July. In the meantime, the mosque committee shall move High Court. pic.twitter.com/MMm9Xw1W3Q
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud took note of the submissions made by senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who appeared in the court on behalf of the mosque committee, stayed the operation of the order till Wednesday evening and asked the committee to file an appeal in the meantime. “We are of the view that some breathing time should be granted to the mosque committee,” said the bench that also comprised Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. “We permit the petitioner (mosque committee) to move the high court under Article 227 (writ jurisdiction of high courts), challenging the order of the district judge of Varanasi, having taken regard of the fact that the order was passed at 4:30 pm on July 21 and the ASI survey is being carried out today. “To permit them some breathing time, we direct that the district court order shall not be enforced till 5 pm on July 26. If the petitioner moves the high court, the registrar-judicial of the high court shall ensure that it is placed before a roster (a bench) so that it is heard before the status quo order ends,” the bench said in its order. Earlier during the hearing, the top court had ordered that there should be no invasive work by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple. The top court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Uttar Pradesh government, to inform the ASI team that there should not be any “invasive work” or excavation at the site. Mehta informed the court that “not a brick has been removed nor is it planned”. He also told the court that the petitioners need not worry about any excavation move at this point, adding that only measurement, photography and radar studies are being carried out currently. Reacting to the development, Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the case, said, “The SC has passed a stay on the execution of the order of the Varanasi court on survey of the Mosque complex to allow the Anjum to challenge the same before the High Court…Our legal team is reaching High Court and we will oppose this. The truth of Gyanvapi will only come out after the survey of ASI. The High Court will decide the matter unaffected by any observations of the Supreme Court, Allahabad HC will decide the matter on its own merit.”
#WATCH | On Supreme Court's order, Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi mosque case, says "The SC has passed a stay on the execution of the order of the Varanasi court on survey of the Mosque complex to allow the Anjum to challenge the same before the… pic.twitter.com/QuxIhx5c9X
— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2023
He said that the Muslim side, Anjuman Intezamia, misled the Supreme Court and said that digging has started there, which is not true. Meanwhile, DM Varanasi said that the administration will abide by the court order.
#WATCH | "We will abide by the court order," says DM Varanasi after Supreme Court orders stay on ASI survey of Gyanvapi Mosque complex till 5pm on 26th July. pic.twitter.com/HLyimZZ154
— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2023
Impact Shorts
View AllA Varanasi court on Friday had directed the ASI to conduct a “detailed scientific survey” - including excavations, wherever necessary - to determine if the mosque was built at a place where a temple existed earlier. The mosque’s “wazookhana” (a small reservoir for Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions), where a structure claimed by the Hindu litigants to be a “Shivling” exists, will not be part of the survey, following an earlier Supreme Court order protecting that spot in the complex. District judge A K Vishvesh has directed the ASI to submit a report to the court by 4 August, along with video clips and photographs of the survey proceedings. With inputs from agencies
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