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Varanasi court orders ASI to provide Gyanvapi report to parties of 1991 suit
The court of civil judge (senior division) ordered ASI to provide copy of the Gyanvapi survey report to the parties of a 1991 suit
A court in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi on Tuesday ordered to provide a copy of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)’s scientific survey report on the Gyanvapi mosque to the parties to the suit titled 'Ancient Idol Swayambhu Lord Vishweshwar and others Vs Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committe and others'.
The fast-track court of civil judge senior division passed the order on an application filed by Advocate Vijai Shankar Rastogi on January 4, seeking a copy of the ASI report on the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque.
The suit titled 'Ancient Idol Swayambhu Lord Vishweshwar and others Vs Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committe and others' was filed in a civil court in Varanasi by Harhar Pandey and two others in 1991, seeking worshipping rights inside the Gyanvapi Masjid complex and the removal of the mosque. At present the suit is pending before the fast track court of civil judge (senior division), Varanasi.
Rastogi filed the application as next friend of Lord Visheshwar. In legal terms, the next friend is a person who represents another person unable to appear in court.
"The court of civil judge (senior division) passed the order that the copy of the ASI report on the scientific survey of Gyanvapi be provided to the parties as per rule,” standing government counsel Amit Kumar Srivastava, representing ASI, said, on Tuesday.
This is the same survey report that ASI submitted in the court of the Varanasi district judge on December 18, 2023. The district court on July 21, 2023 had ordered an extensive survey of the mosque by ASI to ascertain whether it was built over a pre-existing temple.
Though ASI submitted its report in the district court on December 18, its main findings were made public on Thursday by Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is also the lead lawyer for four Hindu women plaintiffs seeking regular worshipping rights in the mosque complex.
The ASI report has said that a large Hindu temple existed before the construction of the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi. The trial of the original civil suit filed in 2021over the Hindu-Muslim dispute over the Gyanvapi mosque is yet to commence.
Earlier on January 24, ASI had filed its survey report in a sealed envelope in the court of civil judge (SD).
On January 4, the fast-track court had directed ASI to submit the report by January 19 and then granted time till January 25. The court passed this order on an application filed by Rastogi seeking a directive to ASI director general to submit the report in the court of civil judge in compliance with an Allahabad high court order.
