Gyanvapi complex case: Allahabad High Court sets next hearing on Sept 18

VARANASI: The next hearing on the petitions challenging the maintainability of the civil suit filed with regard to the ownership of the Varanasi Gyanvapi complex and the validity of the Allahabad High Court ordering a survey by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), was scheduled for September 18.

Chief Justice Pritinkar Diwakar on Tuesday heard the petitions filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee and Sunni Central Waqf Board.

Both the Muslim and Hindu sides presented their arguments before the court scheduled the next hearing on the matter.

A Varanasi court on Friday granted four weeks’ additional time to the ASI to complete the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

The ASI was granted time till October 6, 2023, to complete the survey and submit its report.

Earlier, in August this year, the Allahabad High Court allowed the ASI to conduct a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

It dismissed a plea by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, challenging the ASI survey of the mosque complex, adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.

The scientific survey of the complex, excluding ‘wuzukhana’, began on August 4, following the Allahabad High Court's order, which allowed the ASI to conduct the survey to determine if the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee moved the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court order. However, the apex court declined to stay the scientific survey of the complex by the ASI.