Gyanvapi - Kashi Vishwanath case: Varanasi Court orders that ASI survey report be given to parties

A Varanasi district court on Wednesday directed that the scientific survey report prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on the Gyanvapi mosque in July 2023 be supplied to the parties to the dispute concerning the mosque. .Judge AK Vishvesha ordered that all parties to the case should have access to the report."Both the parties to the suit must be provided copies of the survey report so that they can file objections against the ASI report, if they think it proper. Without providing copy of the survey report to the parties, it will not be possible for them to file objections against it," the Court observed.For this purpose, the sealed envelope containing the survey report presented by the ASI can be opened by the appeal clerk, the Court said. "Subsequently, copies can be provided to the concerned parties upon their request, following the relevant legal provisions and rules," the Court added..In July last year, the court had ordered the Director of the ASI to conduct a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises, excluding the area previously sealed by the Supreme Court (wuzukhana or an ablution pond).Pursuant to the same, the ASI had carried out the survey..In August last year, the top court rejected the plea by the Muslim party challenging the survey and said that the High Court order for the survey does not warrant interference by the apex court at this stage and such a survey was conducted even in the Ayodhya case.The Muslim parties had also filed an application under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC challenging the maintainability of the suit on ground that the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which was introduced at the height of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, seeks to protect the status of all religious structures as it stood on August 15, 1947.Both the district court and the High Court had rejected the same and held the suit to be maintainable.