Gyanvapi case: SC stays Varanasi district court order until 5 pm on 26 July; asks Mosque committee to move Allahabad HC

Gyanvapi Mosque Case: The Supreme Court has put stay on Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey to determine whether the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple. The top court has put a stay on ASI survey  of Gyanvapi mosque complex till 5 pm on 26 July. 

The apex court said that Allahabad High Court order shall not be enforced till July 26. In the meantime, SC directed the mosque committee to move to Allahabad High Court.

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A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions made by senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who appeared in the court on behalf of the mosque committee, stayed the operation of the order till Wednesday evening and asked the committee to file an appeal in the meantime.

Gyanvapi Mosque LIVE 

On Supreme Court's order, Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi mosque case, says "The SC has passed a stay on the execution of the order of the Varanasi court on survey of the Mosque complex to allow the Anjum to challenge the same before the High Court...Our legal team is reaching High Court and we will oppose this. The truth of Gyanvapi will only come out after the survey of ASI. The High Court will decide the matter unaffected by any observations of the Supreme Court, Allahabad HC will decide the matter on its own merit"

"We will abide by the court order," says DM Varanasi said after Supreme Court's order.

Earlier, SC asked ASI not to do any excavation till 11.15 am today. SG Tushar Mehta has been asked to come back at 11.15 to inform about ASI's methods of survey. The top court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Uttar Pradesh government, to inform the ASI team that there should not be any "invasive work" or excavation at the site, as per PTI reports. To which, SG said, "not a brick has been removed nor is it planned to be removed. Right now what is going on is measurement, photography, and radar, which will not affect the structure."

Today morning, ASI team had reached the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi to conduct a scientific survey of the mosque complex, adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath temple. 

Varanasi Court on Friday gave directions to conduct an ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, excluding the 'Wazukhana' area which has been sealed.

(More details awaited)