New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response from the Gyanvapi mosque committee in Varanasi on a plea filed by the Hindu side for conducting an ASI survey of the sealed area of the mosque where a “Shivling” was purportedly found in May 2022.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masajid and sought its reply within two weeks on a plea filed by the Hindu side.

On May 16, 2022, during a court-ordered survey of the Gyanvapi premises adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, a structure found in the Wazukhana (ablution pond) area was claimed to be a “Shivling” by the Hindu side whereas the Muslim party claimed it to be a “fountain”.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, along with advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, said they had filed an application to consolidate all the suits and transfer it from the Varanasi district court to the Allahabad High Court.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the mosque management committee, contended before the bench the appeal filed by the Masjid committee questioning the maintainability of the suits as barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991 should be heard on an urgent basis.

After hearing both sides, the bench agreed to post all the matters together on December 17.

The top court on August 4, 2023, refused to stay the Allahabad High Court order allowing the ASI to conduct a scientific survey at the Gyanvapi mosque complex to determine if the 17th-century structure was built upon a pre-existing temple, notwithstanding the assertion by the Muslim side that the exercise will “reopen wounds of the past”.

The apex court, however, asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) not to take recourse to any invasive act during the survey.

It then said the evidentiary value of the scientific survey of the ASI was open to be tested in the lawsuit and was open to objections, including cross-examination.

The Varanasi district court on July 21, 2023, directed the ASI to conduct a “detailed scientific survey” — including excavations, wherever necessary — to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple was built upon a temple.

The mosque’s Wazukhana, where a structure claimed by the Hindu party to be a “Shivling” exists, will not be part of the survey following an earlier Supreme Court order protecting the spot in the complex.

The Hindu party claims a temple existed at the site which was demolished in the 17th century on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.