Allahabad HC: Gyanvapi Mosque verdict to be announced by August 3

On August 3, the Allahabad High Court will issue its ruling in the case involving the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) survey of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Mosque.
“On August 3, the verdict will be announced. Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer for the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi mosque issue, informed the press that the interim order will remain in effect until August 3. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was instructed by the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday not to begin the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi while the case is still being heard.

The district court ruling ordering the ASI to undertake the contentious survey was being challenged in court.
Notably, the Supreme Court rectified its decision in the Gyanvapi mosque issue on Wednesday after accidentally dismissing an appeal from the committee contesting the maintainability of a lawsuit filed by Hindus in trial court demanding the right to pray inside the mosque on July 24.
On July 24, the top court decided the main case while also granted relief on the interim plea by postponing the ASI survey.

A thorough scientific investigation by the ASI to ascertain if the mosque in Varanasi, which is close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, was built upon a temple was placed on hold by the highest court on July 24 till 5 p.m. on July 26.
The mosque committee filed an interim appeal on Monday asking the top court to grant a suspension of the ASI’s work.
In response to a request made by four Hindu ladies on May 16, 2023, Varanasi district judge AK Vishvesha ordered the ASI study of the Gyanvapi complex on July 21.

The district judge’s decision did not apply to the complex’s ablution pond area, which has been shut under the high court’s directive.

The Allahabad High Court permitted a scientific examination of this alleged “shivling” on May 12 of this year, but the Supreme Court overturned that decision on May 19.
On May 16 of last year, a court-ordered assessment of the mosque next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple revealed a structure that was claimed to be a “Shivling” by the Hindu side and a “fountain” by the Muslim side.
The Varanasi District Judge’s decision to deny the request for a scientific assessment and carbon dating of the “Shivling” on October 14, 2022, was overturned by the High Court on May 12.

The High Court had instructed the Varanasi District Judge to handle the Hindu devotees’ request for a scientific investigation of the “Shivling” in line with the law.
Laxmi Devi and three other petitioners had brought an appeal against the lower court’s decision to the High Court.