The Supreme Court, on Monday, July 24, ordered that a Varanasi court’s direction allowing an extensive survey of the Gyanvapi mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will not be enforced till 5 pm on Wednesday, saying that “some breathing time” should be given to the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee for appeal. A bench comprising Chief Justice Of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra permitted the mosque management committee to move the Allahabad High Court to challenge the order passed by the Varanasi District Court.
Varanasi District Magistrate S Rajalingam, on Friday, ordered an extensive survey of the barricaded area of the Gyanvapi Masjid, excluding its sealed section, by ASI to ascertain whether the mosque was built over a pre-existing Hindu temple, holding that the scientific investigation is "necessary" for the "true facts" to come out. An ASI team had reached the mosque to carry on the survey on Monday.
The Varanasi court heard all the seven petitions filed related to the Gyanvapi case. In August 2021, five women filed a petition in the local court seeking the right to perform regular worship at the Shringar Gauri site located in the Gyanvapi mosque premises. In April 2022, a senior division court ordered a survey on the mosque premises. The survey was completed in May 2022. During that time, a Shivling was allegedly found in the mosque which the Muslim side claimed was a fountain.