SC asks Gyanvapi Masjid committee to respond to plea seeking ASI probe into closed area | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Gyanvapi Mosque Management Committee on a plea by Hindu petitioners for a Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) investigation into the sealed off area within the mosque complex, where a structure claiming to be a “Shivling” was reportedly discovered in 2022. However, the Muslim side claims that the structure is a fountain.
The sealed area in question was closed by the Supreme Court in May 2022 following the alleged discovery of the “Shivling” during a court-mandated survey conducted near the mosque’s washing pond.
A bench of Justices Sury Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan expressed prima facie opposition to the Hindu side’s request for consolidation of 17 cases, currently pending in two courts in Varanasi. These lawsuits concern the claim that the mosque was built over the destroyed one Kashi Vishwanath Templeand are heard before the Allahabad High Court.
The court said it would consolidate the lawsuits before a single court, ideally the district judge where the main case is currently pending, allowing the Supreme Court to serve as the first appellate forum to reassess the evidence.
The top court further noted that all contentious issues, including the ASI investigation of the sealed off area and the maintainability of the suits – which the Muslim side claims are banned under the Places of Worship Act, 1991 – can be taken up by the Supreme Court on a weekly or biweekly basis. A preliminary hearing on these matters is scheduled for December 17.
The Supreme Court directive followed the Allahabad High Court’s earlier approval of an ASI probe to determine whether the mosque was built on top of a pre-existing Hindu temple. However, the High Court had excluded the closed zone from the scope of the investigation.
Previous ASI investigations of the site, conducted on court orders, have reportedly yielded findings that corroborate the Hindu side’s claims. However, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board have consistently opposed such claims, arguing that they violate the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which prohibits changing the status of religious structures such as those in 1947 existed, to change.