The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday postponed hearing two petitions that requested the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct additional surveys at the Gyanvapi mosque premises.
This comes after the Supreme Court’s interim order on December 12, which barred all courts from issuing any final orders or directives regarding the survey of mosques.
The single-judge bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal ordered that the cases be scheduled for further hearing on February 24, 2025, which is a week after the Supreme Court is set to hear multiple petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Places of Worship Act, 1991.
The Act bars altering the religious character of places of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.
Two petitions were files in the Allahabad HC challenging the Varanasi court’s October 2023 decision, which declined to order the ASI to conduct a survey of the entire Gyanvapi mosque premises.
The first petition sought a directive for the ASI to survey the ‘Wuzukhana’ (ablution pond) area within the mosque premises. This area has remained sealed following a Supreme Court order issued after a Shivling-like structure was discovered during a Varanasi court-ordered survey in May 2023.The second petition was filed by Advocate Vijay Shankar Rastogi. In his plea, Rastogi asserted that the ‘Swayambhu Jyotirling’ is located beneath the main dome of the Gyanvapi mosque.
