SC puts on hold Allahabad High Court’s ‘scientific probe’ order of Gyanvapi Mosque

The Supreme Court on Friday put on hold the directions of the Allahabad High Court permitting a scientific probe to ascertain whether the object found during the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises is a Shiva linga or a fountain.

The directions were passed by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud. The top court has asked the central and Uttar Pradesh governments to file their responses to an appeal filed by the Muslim party challenging the Allahabad High Court's direction.

Issuing a notice on the appeal, the bench said that since the implications of the directions in the high court order would merit closer scrutiny, it stands deferred till next date.


The Muslim party argued that while an appeal by the management committee of Anjuman Intezamia Masjid challenging the Varanasi court order on the issue of maintainability was still pending, an order for carbon dating was allowed by the court.

The high court had observed that a technical and scientific report of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has opened ways for carrying out scientific investigation of the Shiva linga without causing any damage to the structure in question.

Thus, the high court had set aside the Varanasi district court's order of October last year in which it had rejected the plea filed by the Hindu parties seeking directions to the ASI to conduct a scientific investigation.