Last week, Varanasi Court agreed to hear a plea for a survey by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) of the entire Gyanvapi mosque premises located next to the Kashi Vishwanath.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, counsel for the Hindu side, filed the petition before District Court Judge A K Vishvesh the Court in its order directs the Gyanvapi mosque committee to file its reply to the plea by May 19.

On Friday, the Allahabad High Court ordered a determination of the age of the structure claimed to be a shivling in the Gyanvapi mosque using modern technology. 

The counsel for the Masjid Committee, Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, submitted that the survey steps will commence on next Monday. Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Uttar Pradesh, expressed concerns regarding damage to the structure during the survey.

"Since the implications of the impugned order merit closer scrutiny, the implementation of the directions concerned in the order shall stand deferred till the next date", the bench noted in the order.

In the previous order, the bench of Allahabad High Court headed by Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra-I decided to allow scientific investigation after scrutinizing a report submitted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The Allahabad High Court in its order dated 12th May ordered a determination of the age of the structure claimed to be a shivling in the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi using modern technology.

It set aside an October 14 order of the Varanasi District Court that rejected a plea for scientific investigation, including carbon dating, of the structure found in May 2022 during a court-mandated survey of the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

The high court directed the Varanasi district judge to proceed, in accordance with law, on the application by the Hindu worshippers for conducting a scientific probe of the ‘shivling’, paving the way for determining the age of the structure.