Gyanvapi case: Videography survey concludes on third day, report to be presented tomorrow, SC hearing tomorrow

A court-mandated videography survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex, which was carried out for the third consecutive day, concluded on Monday amid tight security, officials said.

The survey of the mosque complex, which started at 8 am, concluded at around 10:15 am.

The mosque is located close to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple and the local court is hearing a plea by a group of women seeking permission for daily prayers before the idols on its outer walls.

"After working for over two hours, the court commission concluded its work on Monday at around 10.15 am. All parties were satisfied with the work," Varanasi District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma told reporters.

The survey was stalled last week amid objections by the mosque committee, which claimed that the advocate commissioner appointed by the court for the survey did not have the mandate to film inside the premises.

In his order on Thursday last, District Civil Judge (Senior Division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar had turned down a plea by the mosque committee to replace Ajay Kumar Mishra, who was appointed advocate commissioner by the court to survey the Gyanvapi-Gauri Shringar complex.

The judge also appointed two more advocates to help the court commissioner with the survey and said it should be completed by Tuesday.

The district court had said that locks should be broken if the keys are not available to access certain areas of the complex for the survey. It also asked district authorities to register FIRs if the survey was not allowed.

The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear a plea against the Allahabad High Court order which dismissed a petition challenging a Varanasi court's order to appoint an advocate as a court commissioner to inspect the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

A bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and P.S. Narasimha will hear the plea filed by Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Varanasi.

On May 13, the apex court had declined to immediately stop the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, and agreed to list the matter.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the petitioner, mentioned a plea before the top court filed by the Committee seeking a stay on survey of complex.

The plea challenged the validity of Allahabad High Court's April 21 order, which dismissed the plea against the civil court's order for the survey.

Ahmadi mentioned the plea before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana.

The bench said: "We don't know anything about the matter... We have no details. How can we pass the order?"

Ahmadi said "please grant status quo", and added that the mosque has been covered under Places of Worship Act.

The bench said: "Let me look at the papers, let me see..."