Plea for additional ASI survey of Gyanvapi: Next hearing on Sept 23
A Varanasi court set September 23 for the next hearing on a plea for an additional ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque, following a request for more preparation time.
A Varanasi court on Wednesday fixed September 23 for the next hearing on the plea which seeks an additional survey of the Gyanvapi mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The fast track court of the civil judge (senior division), Yughul Shambhu passed this order after counsel for the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee(AIMC), which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, urged it to fix another date for the hearing because he could not prepare for the submission and needed some more time.
“We urged the court to fix any other date for the next hearing since we could not do preparation for the submission. Thereafter, the court fixed September 23 as the next date of hearing,” said AIMC counsel Akhlaque Ahmad.
The mosque management committee has already presented its objection to the plea.
Advocate Vijai Shankar Rastogi, who filed the plea for the additional survey in January, completed his submission on earlier dates. Rastogi is the next friend of Lord Adi Vishweshwar in the suit: “Ancient Idol Swayambhu Lord Vishweshwar and others Vs Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee.”
“We want a comprehensive survey in the entire Gyanvapi complex and presented our submission in its favour before the court,” Rastogi said.
A survey by the ASI in Gyanvapi complex is required because several parts of it have not been surveyed during the recently conducted exercise by ASI, he added.
The ASI conducted a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi last year and submitted its report to the Varanasi district judge.
The ASI had conducted the survey in accordance with the July 21, 2023 order of the Varanasi district judge to determine if the mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.