Hindu party moves Varanasi court seeking ASI survey of blocked cellars in Gyanvapi Mosque

An application has been filed before the district court in Varanasi seeking an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of cellars within the premises of the Gyanvapi Mosque, which have not yet been accessed by the ASI in its earlier survey..Rakhi Singh who is the first plaintiff in the ongoing Shringar Gauri Worshipping suit of 2022, (currently pending before the Varanasi court) has filed the application. .Singh has contended that it is imperative to survey these cellars to establish the religious nature of the Gyanvapi premises since both Muslim and Hindu parties have made conflicting claims on such aspects. Particularly, Singh has submitted that cellars N1 to N5 in the northern part of the premises and cellars S1 to S3 in the southern part are yet to be surveyed. It is also submitted that the entrances to cellars N1 and S1 are completely obstructed, making them inaccessible. Singh added that these cellars could not be surveyed earlier by the ASI because of blocked entrances. However, Singh further submitted that the ASI could use modern technology to unblock the entrances and survey the cellars, without causing any damage to the structures. ."Entrance is blocked with bricks and stone and it is pertinent to mention that load of the structure is not lying on the blocked entrance. And there will be no damage to the structure in question if ASI expert will remove it by the expertise they have," the application stated..Therefore, she has urged the court to direct the ASI to conduct a scientific survey of these cellars without causing any damage to the structure in question.The application has been filed through advocate Saurabh Tiwari..The main dispute over the Gyanvapi compound involves a claim by the Hindu side that a section of an ancient temple on the said land was destroyed during the rule of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century.On the other hand, the Muslim side has maintained that the mosque predated Aurangzeb's reign and that it had endured various alterations over time..Amid this ongoing dispute, a district court in Varanasi on January 31 directed a receiver to allow Hindu parties to offer prayers and puja in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi Mosque.The mosque committee has challenged the said decision before the Allahabad High Court, which heard the matter on February 2. On February 2, the High Court declined to stay the Varanasi court order and asked the Muslim side to amend their plea to include a challenge to an earlier January 17 order appointing a court receiver. This matter is slated to be heard by the High Court again tomorrow (February 6, Tuesday).On a related note, the Allahabad High Court had on January 31 sought the response of the mosque committee to a plea filed by a Hindu party seeking an ASI survey of the wuzukhana region within the mosque's premises.Notably, the ASI had already conducted a comprehensive scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex excluding the wuzukhana.The ASI also recently submitted a survey report to the Varanasi district court asserting that an ancient Hindu Temple existed at the site before the construction of the Gyanvapi Mosque.