Gyanvapi Survey: Congress refuses to comment but MP Abhishek Singhvi questions rationale of order

The All India Congress Committee on Friday avoided taking any official stand on whether a civil court in Varanasi ordering a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India to ascertain a temple’s existence at the spot is violative of the extant law in the matter. However, CPM as well lawyer and Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi, through a tweet from his Twitter handle, questioned the rationale of the order.

Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala sidestepped queries on the party’s official view about the court order. “Well, I haven’t really looked at the order. I would like to look at the order before commenting. The civil court orders are not uplinked. So, without going through the order, how can we comment on that,” he said.

However, Singhvi expressed his “astonishment” over the court order, pointing out that the 1991 places of worship Act specifically barred inquiry into the places of worship in Varanasi and Mathura. The CPM Polit Bureau said in a statement: “The order of a civil court in Varanasi...is violative of the extant law... The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act enjoins the maintenance of status quo in all such religious places of worship. The higher judiciary should immediately intervene to nullify the lower court order.”