Temple under Varanasi's Gyanvapi Mosque? Court orders ASI survey

A court in Varanasi on Thursday gave its approval for survey of Kashi Vishwanath temple and Gyanvapi Mosque complex by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The court further directed the Uttar Pradesh government to bear the cost of the survey.

The court order came on a petition filed by a local lawyer VS Rastogi, who had demanded that the land entailing the Gyanvapi Mosque be restored to Hindus. The petitioner claimed that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1664 pulled down a portion of the 2000-year-old Kashi Vishwanath temple to build the mosque in its place. The Gyanvyapi Mosque management committee had opposed the petition.

The petition was first filed in 1991, seeking permission to worship in the Gyanvapi masjid, but it was challenged on the very ground of maintainability. The Sunni Central Waqf Board had argued that the petition is not maintainable under places of religious worship act 1991.