Court orders ASI survey of Gyanvapi mosque

Varanasi: A court here on Friday directed the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple here. The 'wazukhana', where a structure claimed by Hindu litigants to be a 'shivling' exists, will not be part of the survey, following an earlier Supreme Court order related to the spot where Muslims perform ritual ablutions. A throng of people outside the court received the news with slogans of "Har Har Mahadev". The order by the court of A K Vishvesh upheld the petition of a group of Hindus seeking a survey to determine if the Mughal-era mosque was built at the site of an earlier Hindu temple.

The court fixed August 4 as the next date of hearing, according to government counsel Rajesh Mishra. The court had on July 14 reserved its order after hearing both Hindu and Muslim sides. The petition filed by the Hindu group had sought a direction to the ASI to survey the complex. The mosque management's counsel Mohammed Tauhid Khan said it will challenge the order. "It is not acceptable and we will move to a higher court against it.