Supreme Court orders two-day stay on ASI survey at Gyanvapi complex

New Delhi, July 24

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a two-day stay on a Varanasi court’s decision for a survey by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) of the Gyanvapi complex which has been at the centre of a dispute between Hindus and Muslims for centuries.

“Having regard to the fact that the order of the district court was pronounced at 4.30 pm on July 21, 2023, and the survey is in the process of being carried out today, we are of the view that some ‘breathing time’ must be granted to the petitioners to move the Allahabad High Court for pursuing their remedies. We direct that the impugned order of the district court shall not be enforced until 5 pm on July 26,” a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.

The SC asked the Muslim side to approach the Allahabad High Court against the Varanasi court’s order and directed the High Court Registrar General to ensure “that it is placed before the appropriate court according to the roster so that it can be heard before the order of status quo, which has been granted by this court today, comes to an end”. The Bench, however, clarified that “this shall not be construed as the expression of opinion on the merits”.

Acting on a plea by four Hindu women, Varanasi District Judge AK Vishvesha had on Friday ordered an ASI survey of the Gyanvapi complex, excluding the Wazukhana, i.e. ablution pond area, which had been sealed on the top court’s order.

The top court’s stay order on Monday came after senior counsel Huzefa Ahmadi mentioned before the CJI’s Bench a petition filed by Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, Varanasi, challenging the district judge’s order for an ASI survey of the disputed premises and sought a stay.

Ahmadi submitted that on July 21, the district court passed an order at 4.30 pm permitting a survey/excavation of the site. The senior counsel submitted that this left the petitioners with no time to pursue remedies before the High Court. Ahmadi said the ASI had already started digging a wall. “What is the tearing hurry? This structure has been used as a mosque since the 1500s,” he said.

Senior counsel Shyam Divan, representing the Hindu side, said the Varanasi court order specifically excluded the ‘Wazukhana’ at which the top court had ordered a status quo to be maintained.

Initially, CJI Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to instruct the ASI not to do any excavation before it took up the matter later in the day.

When the matter was taken up again at 11.15 am, Mehta told the Bench that not even a brick had moved and that only the survey was going on. Mehta said only measurements, photography and radar imaging were being carried out at the site. No excavation was contemplated at the site at least for the next one week, Mehta said.

After a brief hearing, the Supreme Court ordered a two-day stay on the ASI survey ordered by the Varanasi court and asked the Muslim side to move the High Court for relief.