Gyanvapi Mosque Case: SC stays Allahabad HC order allowing scientific survey of ‘Shivling'

The Supreme Court has said that “we need to tread carefully in this matter”. “The Allahabad high court order needs closer scrutiny,” the Supreme Court said.

The Central government and the Uttar Pradesh government have agreed to the petition for adjourning the proposed “scientific survey" of 'Shivling' for the time being. The Supreme Court has also issued notices to the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government on the plea of the mosque panel against the high court order for the scientific survey and the carbon dating of “Shivling".

Supreme Court has said that since the implications of the Allahabad High Court order that allowed carbon dating of the “Shivling” merit closer scrutiny, the implementation of the directions concerned in the order shall stand deferred till the next date.

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Allahabad HC order allowing the scientific survey of a “Shivling” which was purportedly found inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex in 2022. The order was passed on an appeal by the Gyanvapi mosque management committee.

The Supreme Court is hearing an appeal challenging the Allahabad High Court order which has directed a "scientific survey", including carbon dating, of a "Shivling" said to have been found at the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi during a videographic survey last year.

During the survey, a structure -- claimed to be a "Shivling" by the Hindu side and a "fountain" by the Muslim side -- was found in the mosque premises on May 16 last year during a court-mandated survey of the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

The Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered determination of the age of the structure claimed to be a shivling in the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi using modern technology.

It set aside an October 14 order of the Varanasi District Court that rejected a plea for scientific investigation, including carbon dating, of the structure found in May 2022 during a court-mandated survey of the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

The Allahabad High Court on Friday allowed the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct carbon dating of what Hindu religious groups have claimed is a 'Shivling' inside the Gyanvapi mosque.

Based on the petition filed in August 2021, the Varanasi court appointed an advocate commissioner and also ordered a videography survey of the complex. The decision was again challenged by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee in the Allahabad High court. But this time, Allahabad High Court upheld the order. Later, the party also filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court.

In the judgment given by a single judge bench of Justice Prakash Padia of Allahabad High Court, it was announced that the court should wait for further judgement in the already proceeding cases of the matter. “The court below should not have proceeded and decided the application filed by the plaintiffs in the Original Suit for survey by Archaeological Survey of India. In the opinion of the Court, the Court below should wait for the verdict in the petitions pending before this Court and not proceed further in the matter till the time a judgement is delivered." said the Court.

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on May 19 an appeal challenging the Allahabad High Court order which has directed a "scientific survey", including carbon dating, of a "Shivling" said to have been found at the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi during a videographic survey last year.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said it would hear on Friday the appeal filed by Gyanvapi mosque management committee against the High Court's recent order for scientific investigation by ASI to determine the age of "Shivling".

In the judgment given by a single judge bench of Justice Prakash Padia of Allahabad High Court, it was announced that the court should wait for further judgement in the already proceeding cases of the matter. “The court below should not have proceeded and decided the application filed by the plaintiffs in the Original Suit for survey by Archaeological Survey of India. In the opinion of the Court, the Court below should wait for the verdict in the petitions pending before this Court and not proceed further in the matter till the time a judgement is delivered." said the Court.

The Gyanvapi mosque case was again in the limelight when five Hindu devotees filed a petition in the Varanasi Court seeking permission to worship deities Hanuman, Nandi, and Shringar Gauri, inside the Gyanvapi complex. The petition also demanded to restrict people from causing damage to the idols.

The crucial Places of Worship Act 1991, was taken up by a Supreme Court bench headed by the former Chief Justice S A Bobde to examine its substantiality. The bench sought the central government's response to a PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay that questioned the validity of the act.

The revival of the issue also encouraged the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee to intervene again to oppose the petition seeking an ASI survey of the entire Gyanvapi complex.

However, the petitioner approached the lower court for the resumption of the hearing of the 1991 petition as the Allahabad High Court had not extended the stay further.

The issue was revived when a person named Rastogi filed a plea on behalf of Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar in Varanasi district court demanding an Archeological survey of the entire disputed area. The petitioner attributed himself as the “next friend" of Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar in the petition.

In a fresh case that was filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee in Allahabad High Court, it was asserted that the temple-mosque land dispute could not be adjudicated by a civil court as it was not permissible by the law. As a result, High Court stayed the proceedings in the lower court for 22 years.

Just like the Places of Worship Act, the case also holds back its roots in the year 1991. The first petition in the case was filed by Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar in Varanasi court in 1991. The petition demanded the right to worship in the Gyanvapi complex.

The petitioner had put forward three demands in his petition. It included a declaration of the entire Gyanvapi complex as a part of the Kashi temple, removal of Muslims from the complex area, and demolition of the mosque.

The fate of the more than three decades-old issue of the Gyanvapi Mosque case will be decided when the Supreme Courtwill  pronounce its orders today. The suit seeks the right to worship at the Gyanvapi mosque compound next to Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

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The Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered determination of the age of the structure claimed to be a shivling in the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi using modern technology.

It set aside an October 14 order of the Varanasi District Court that rejected a plea for scientific investigation, including carbon dating, of the structure found in May 2022 during a court-mandated survey of the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

A court here on Tuesday agreed to hear a plea for a survey by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) of the entire Gyanvapi mosque premises located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

During the survey, a structure -- claimed to be a "Shivling" by the Hindu side and a "fountain" by the Muslim side -- was found in the mosque premises on May 16 last year during a court-mandated survey of the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

A petition has been filed in a court here on Tuesday seeking an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the entire premises of the Gyanvapi complex, and not only the "shivling" as ordered by the Allahabad High Court.

The Allahabad High Court on May 12 ordered determination of the age of the structure claimed to be Shivling in the Gyanvapi mosque using modern technology.

The top court has agreed to hear plea challenging the Allahabad High Court's order which has directed a ‘scientific survey’, including carbon dating, of a ‘Shivling’ said to have been found at the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi during a videographic survey last year.