The Supreme Court has revived a plea by the Gyanvapi panel which was unintentionally disposed of on July 24 while they stayed on the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey on the mosque premises to find out if it was built upon a temple.
Today in the hearing, a bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud including Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra acknowledged the arguments put forth by senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi. Ahmadi represented the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia of the Gyanvapi mosque and clarified that the court had already disposed of the main plea during the last hearing. Instead of seeking a halt to the ASI work, their current plea is an interim one.
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Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who was appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government and the ASI, stated that he does not object to the mosque committee's special leave petition being brought back for consideration.
According to the report by PTI, the mosque committee had sought dismissal of the lawsuit of the Hindu party in the Varanasi district court under order VII Rule 11(c) of the Civil Procedure Code for filing it on a paper which has not been duly "stamped and authorised", in the main plea.
The mosque committee sought a halt in ASI work by filing the interim plea in the pending petition.
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The top court granted relief on the interim plea by staying the work and disposed the main case on July 24.
According to PTI, Ahmadi said, "The appeal against Order 7 Rule 11 has been disposed of though not argued. We have only pressed the ASI survey point and the matter is before the Allahabad HC and it can be argued there that our appeal has been dismissed."
The bench rectified its error and revived the plea as they took note of the submissions.
What has happened so far?
On July 24, the top court halted till 5 pm on July 26 a "detailed scientific survey" by the ASI to determine if the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple.
Taking up the plea moved by the mosque panel for an urgent hearing, the top court directed the Allahabad High Court to hear the appeal before its "status quo" order expires on Wednesday evening.
A Varanasi court had on Friday directed the ASI to conduct the survey, including excavations, wherever necessary, to determine if the mosque was built at a place where a temple existed earlier.
Allahabad High Court hearing the plea today
The Allahabad HC is hearing the plea of the mosque panel on the issue on Tuesday.
