A Varanasi court on Thursday directed the Director General Of Archaeological Survey Of India to conduct a ‘comprehensive physical survey of the disputed Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex.
The order comes close on the heels of a PIL challenging the Places Of Worship (Special Provision) Act, 1991. Fast Track Court Civil Judge (Senior Division) Ashutosh Tiwari ordered the ASI to find out “whether the religious structure standing at present at the disputed site is a superimposition, alteration or addition or there is a structural overlapping of any kind, with or over, any religious structure.”
The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board said that it will challenge the order in Allahabad High Court. It is said that the mosque was constructed on the site of the original Kashi Vishwanath Temple, which was destroyed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1696.
The order comes just over a year after the Supreme Court handed over the Babri Masjid site to a trust to build the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
