Lucknow: Setting aside the district court order, the Allahabad High Court has ordered for a scientific survey of Shivling-like structure found at the Gyanvapi mosque adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.
The court in its order on Friday said that the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) would conduct the scientific survey of the Shivling-like structure without causing any harm to it. The Single Judge bench of Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra heard the petition filed by the Hindu party that had demanded carbon dating of the structure.
ASI report suggestions
A day before, the ASI had submitted its report in the High Court in which it had described five ways through which scientific survey could be conducted without harming the structure. The report was prepared by experts from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, IIT Kanpur and Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany (BSIP), Lucknow. The HC in order asked ASI to follow the means provided in the report and conduct a scientific survey.
Earlier, one Laxmi Devi had filed a writ petition in the court of District Judge, Varanasi in October last year demanding carbon dating of the structure found at the Gyanvapi mosque. The management committee of the mosque had claimed the structure to be the shower while the Hindu party had termed it Shivling. The Varanasi District Judge had turned down the demand and dismissed the writ after which the petitioner had moved to High Court.
The counsel for the Hindu party, Vishnu Jain said that the decision of the High Court is a victory for them. He said that ASI has stated in its report about many techniques that can find the nature of the object without harming it. According to him the scientific surveycan find out the age, nature and material of the Shivling.
