The Fast Track Court (FTC) presided over by Civil Judge Prashant Kumar Singh in Varanasi has issued a directive to unseal the Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) Gyanvapi survey report. This order, issued on Tuesday, also instructs the report to be handed over to the plaintiff in the original case (suit no. 610/1991), Swayambhu Lord Vishweshwar vs Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (AIM)-Gyanvapi Mosque Management Committee, and others.
The ASI report presented to the district court was unveiled on January 25, making its contents public. However, the report submitted to the FTC is still awaiting unsealing.
Advocate Vijay Shankar Rastogi, representing Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar, explained, “In response to the December 19, 2023, order of the Allahabad high court, the ASI was mandated to conduct a comprehensive survey of the entire Gyanvapi mosque, covering plots 9130, 9131, and 9132. The FTC in Varanasi, on January 4, instructed the ASI to submit its survey report on the Gyanvapi mosque by January 19. The ASI submitted the report in sealed envelopes before the FTC on January 24, following an extension.”
Rastogi continued, “The court on Tuesday ordered certified copies of the report to be provided to me and the AIM. After reviewing the report, I plan to submit an application specifying areas on the Gyanvapi premises where further ASI survey is deemed necessary.”
He added, “The ASI's previous scientific investigation of the Gyanvapi compound used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and modern techniques. However, these methods did not yield tangible results, particularly regarding the Garbha Griha of the Hindu temple beneath the floor beneath the central dome. The lawsuit will require the ASI to conduct an underground exploration by creating a trench.”
The court has scheduled the next hearing for February 5, during which it will address the pleas of the two sons of the late litigant Harihar Pandey, as well as the grandson of Somnath Vyas and the head priest of Acharya Ved Vyas Peeth Temple, Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas.
Somnath Vyas and Harihar Pandey were two of the three original litigants who initiated the suit in 1991, seeking the removal of the mosque from the Gyanvapi land. Rastogi, opposing the applications of Harihar Pandey’s sons and Vyas to join as parties in the original suit, mentioned that the court has set February 5 as the date for the hearing on these applications.
(With Agency Inputs)
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