Gyanvapi mosque: Varanasi court grants ASI 8 more weeks for scientific survey

This survey was initiated following the Allahabad High Court's endorsement of a Varanasi district court order, which deemed it "necessary in the interest of justice" and beneficial for both the Hindu and Muslim parties involved.

On August 29, one of the plaintiffs on the Hindu side in the case filed an application demanding an archaeological survey of the "wazukhana."

The Wazukhana area was sealed after the Supreme Court passed an interim order directing the Varanasi district magistrate to ensure protection of the area where the structure claimed to be a 'Shivling' was found during a video survey ordered by the court of the civil judge here.

Earlier, a suit was filed by five Hindu women seeking permission for regular worship of Shringar Gauri and other deities in the Gyanvapi mosque compound.

Media outlets have been banned from reporting on the investigation by a Varanasi court which issued a notice prohibiting ASI officials from speaking to the media.

The judge, District Judge AK Vishwesh, in his order, emphasised that the sensitive nature of the survey work warranted formal information sharing rather than press reporting.

The ASI-led scientific survey work is underway at the Gyanvapi mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi to determine whether a 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. Five Muslim representatives are also a part of the survey.