New Delhi, July 24: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a recent order of a Varanasi Court for an ASI survey at the Gyanvapi complex for two days.
A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Of India Justice DY Chandrachud said that Varanasi court’s order won’t be enforced until 5 pm on July 26. The top court asked the Muslim side to approach the Allahabad High Court against the Varanasi court’s order. “We are of the view that some breathing time should be granted to (the Muslim side) to file an appeal,” the CJI said.
In the Gyanvapi dispute case, the Muslim side on Monday had moved the Supreme Court against the Varanasi court’s order for an ASI survey. Senior counsel H Ahmadi mentioned the matter before the Bench and urged the court to stay the order. Ahmadi told the court that the ASI had already started digging the place.
CJI Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to instruct the ASI not to do any excavation before it took up the matter later in the day. Senior counsel Shyam Divan, representing the Hindu side, said the Varanasi court order specifically excluded the wazukhana at which the top court had ordered a status quo to be maintained.
The Solicitor General told the court that not even a brick had moved and that only the survey was going on. Mehta said only measurements, photography and radar imaging were being carried out at the site. No excavation is contemplated at the site at least for the next one week, Mehta said.
