SC revives Gyanvapi panel plea disposed of while staying ASI survey on mosque premises

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a Gyanvapi panel plea it inadvertently disposed of on July 24 while staying an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey on the mosque premises to determine if it was built upon a temple.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia of the Gyanvapi mosque. He said the main plea was disposed of by the court on the last date of hearing instead of the interim plea seeking halting of the ASI work.

On July 24, the top court halted till 5 pm Wednesday 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.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government and the ASI, said he has no objection to the revival of the special leave petition of the mosque committee.

In the main plea, the mosque committee has sought dismissal of the lawsuit of the Hindu party in the Varanasi district court under Order 7 Rule 11(c) of the Civil Procedure Code for filing it on a paper which has not been duly "stamped and authorised".

An interim plea in the pending petition was filed by the mosque committee seeking to halt ASI work on the ground of “tearing hurry” shown by the authorities in going ahead with the survey without granting it sufficient time to appeal.

“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,” Ahmadi said.

While granting the relief on the interim plea in form of stay of work, the top court had disposed of the main case on July 24.

“Solicitor General Tushar Mehta... states that what has been disposed of is the SLP (special leave petition) instead of the interim application. The inadvertent error has been rectified. The paragraph 10 (of July 24 order) shall be deleted,” the bench ordered and revived the plea.

Taking up the plea moved by the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia of the Gyanvapi mosque 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.

On July 21, a Varanasi court directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct the survey, including excavations, wherever necessary, to determine if the mosque was built at a place where a temple existed earlier.

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday also resumed hearing a plea against a district court order directing the ASI to conduct the survey. It had begun the hearing on Tuesday, when the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the mosque, moved the high court.