File photo of the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi. (Photo | PTI) 
India

Allahabad High Court extends stay on ASI survey till Aug 3

The high court  bench headed by Chief Justice Pritinker Diwekar passed the order to extend the stay on survey after hearing both the parties on Thursday.

Namita Bajpai

LUCKNOW:  Reserving the order on the plea of Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM) plea, the Allahabad High Court extended the stay on ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises till August 3, when it would pronounce it order over the issue.

The high court  bench headed by Chief Justice Pritinker Diwekar passed the order to extend the stay on survey after hearing both the parties on Thursday. AIM, the mosque management committee, had moved the high court on Tuesday challenging the Varanasi District Court order of July 21 directing the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a scientific investigation of the Gyanvapi mosque premises, barring the sealed ablution pond area, to ascertain if the current structure was built over a pre-existing temple.

During the hearing on the AIM’s plea on day three, lawyer SFA Naqvi, representing the Muslim side, expressed his apprehensions that the survey would result in the damage to the structure of the mosque. 

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