Uttar Pradesh: Court Orders ASI Report On Gyanvapi Mosque Survey To Be Made Public

Uttar Pradesh: A Varanasi court, on Wednesday, instructed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)’s report on the Gyanvapi Mosque complex be made public and hard copies be shared with both the Hindu and Muslim parties.

The Varanasi district judge overseeing the case announced the decision to not release the report to the public or distribute it in the digital format so as to prevent any potential distortion on social media platforms.

The concerned parties will need to submit an affidavit in order to access the report. This significant development comes after the ASI had submitted its report to the Varanasi district court in a sealed cover on December 18.

The district court’s decision to grant access to the report is aimed at ensuring full transparency and impartiality in the ongoing legal proceedings.

Both the concerned parties, i.e the Hindu side and the Muslim side will now have the opportunity to study the findings and conclusions presented by the ASI.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, said that the court heard both sides after which a consensus was reached that the hard copy of the ASI’s report will be provided to both the sides and the ASI objected to providing the report via email.

Earlier, a court had mandated that a survey be carried out in the premises of the Mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

After the conclusion of the survey, a structure, which the Hindus claimed to be a Shivling and the Muslims claimed to be a fountain, was found inside the mosque premises on May 16, 2022.

Notably, the Wazu area of the Gyanvapi Mosque happens to be the hotspot of the contentious Gyanvapi mosque – Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute between the two parties.

Earlier in 2022, the Supreme Court had ruled that the area of ‘wazukhana’ be sealed after the discovery of what was said to be a ‘Shivling.’

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