The Allahabad High Court will resume the hearing in the matter at 4.30 pm.
New Delhi:
Seeking a stay on the survey by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the management committee of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Mosque today told Allahabad High Court that it fears that the historic structure might fall.
This prompted a sharp response from the court, which asked the petitioners how they will trust the court’s ruling if they cannot trust the ASI’s assurances that there will no damage to the structure.
Raising the matter in the court, the mosque committee said Gyanvapi mosque has stood at the place, next to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple, for 1,000 years now.
On the Hindu side’s submissions that it trusts a survey similar to one that happened in the Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi case in Ayodhya, the mosque committee said the circumstances in the Ramjanmabhoomi dispute case were different and there cannot be a comparison with it.
“The talk of a temple under Gyanvapi mosque is fictional,” the petitioners’ counsel said, adding that imagination cannot be the basis for allowing a survey by the ASI.
The Hindu side has claimed that a temple constructed at the site in 1585 on the orders of Raja Todarmal was demolished in 1669. A group of Hindu women have now sought permission to worship the deities there, they said.
The mosque committee said that the women petitioners had told a lower court that they do not have proof of the presence of Hindu deities inside the mosque complex and that the ASI must gather them. “This cannot be allowed. You cannot ask someone else to gather proof. This is illegal,” they said, challenging the lower court’s direction for the survey.
The Hindu side stressed that they have proof and added that an ASI survey can be seen as an expert opinion.
When the court asked the Hindu side if excavation was necessary, tits counsel said, “Yes, but this won’t be inside the mosque. ASI will do radar mapping. Excavation will also be conducted if circumstances demand, that too in the last stage.”
Following the Hindu side’s submissions on how this excavation will be conducted, the court said, “Either you videograph the survey or submit that there will be no damage to the mosque.” The Hindu side’s counsel agreed to this.
When the mosque committee said it does not trust the assurances, the court retorted, “When you don’t trust anyone, how will you trust our ruling?”
The court also responded sharply to the mosque committee’s submission that the Hindu side’s lawyer would be responsible if the structure falls.
When the court asks if the mosque committee fears that the structure may fall, the committee responded, “It might, it is 1,000 years old.”
To the Hindu side’s assurances that no survey will be held in the area sealed under orders from Supreme Court, the mosque committee said that area will also suffer damage if the survey is conducted.
To the Hindu side’s submission that the ASI team is waiting, Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker said, “I am not satisfied with what you are going to do.”
On their submission that the structure won’t be damaged, he asked, “Are you going to drill or is it like a vacuum cleaner? Have you ever done this work earlier?”
When the ASI said they have, the Chief Justice asked if there are photos of those projects. “The court is putting strong doubts to the work to be carried out by you,” he said.
The Hindu side said the machine used “will move like a lawn mower” and that “these machines are accepted all over the world”.
The Gyanvapi mosque hit headlines in 2021 after a group of Hindu women approached an Uttar Pradesh court for permission to worship deities in the Gyanvapi complex.
A lower court then ordered a video survey of the complex during which an object was discovered that a section of people claimed to be a shivling. The mosque management committee, however, said it was part of a fountain in the wazookhana (pool) to wash hands and feet before prayers.
Keeping the sensitivity of the issue in mind, the Supreme Court sealed off the pool (wazookhana).
Earlier this year, the Allahabad High Court dismissed the mosque committee’s petition that challenge the maintainability of the request to worship Hindu deities found inside the premises.
This order paved the way for the a Varanasi court’s ruling, allowing a survey by the ASI inside the mosque complex except the pool area.
The mosque committee then approached the Supreme Court, expressing concerns regarding excavation activities.
The court then now allowed the petitioners to approach the Allahabad High Court to challenge the order for the ASI survey.
