Prayagraj. In the matter of the scientific survey of Gyanvapi, the Muslim side has got a big blow today from the Allahabad High Court. The High Court has refused to stay the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The court says that no one is harmed by this survey. The Allahabad High Court allowed the Archaeological Survey of India to survey the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi. The hearing was held in the High Court on the instructions of the Supreme Court. After the hearing, the survey of ASI has been approved. The order by the District Judge of Varanasi allowing the Gyanvapi survey was challenged in the High Court by Anjuman Intezamia Masajid on the directions of the Supreme Court.

A single bench of Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Pritinkar Diwakar heard the petition filed by the Muslim side. Arguing in the court, the Muslim side’s lawyer SFA Naqvi had expressed apprehension of damage to the basic structure of Gyanvapi by a scientific survey of Gyanvapi through an untimely court order. He also said that the country has suffered the brunt of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. In a civil suit, a hasty decision on survey and excavation without determining the point of maintainability can be fatal.

However, the ASI rejected the argument of the Muslim side, saying that the technique adopted for the survey would not even scratch the basic structure of Gyanvapi. Whereas, the Hindu side’s lawyers Vishnu Shankar Jain and Saurabh Tiwari said that they want to bring out the truth of Gyanvapi through the scientific survey. State’s Advocate General Ajay Kumar Mishra, who was present in the court during the hearing, had said that the state government is not a party to the petition, but the state government is ready to assume the responsibility of law and order in the event of a survey.