LUCKNOW: The Varanasi district court on Friday rejected a petition filed by four Hindu women seeking carbon dating and a scientific probe of the Shivling-like structure found in the wuzukhana (ablution pond) within the Gyanvapi mosque premises during a court-ordered survey conducted in May.
District judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesha said the scientific probe could not be permitted as carbon dating and ground penetrating radar could cause damage to the Shivling and would amount to the violation of the Supreme Court order to protect it. The exercise might also hurt the religious sentiment of the general public, he added.
“It will not be appropriate to direct the Archaeological Survey of India to determine the age, nature of the Shivling,” said the judge in his order.
The Anjuman Intezamia Masajid, the management committee of Gyanvapi mosque, had opposed carbon dating or any scientific survey of the structure, calling it a fountain.