The report of the survey which was conducted on the recommendation of the court. Officially released on 25th. The Hindu and Muslim organizations, the plaintiffs and the defendants, had requested a copy of the report in this case. Accordingly, copies have been served on counsel for both sides. According to the report, there was a temple before the mosque.
Before the construction of the mosque, there was a grand temple on the disputed site. Pro-Hindu lawyers said that the report mentioned that the temple was demolished and a mosque was built on its ruins. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain said that the 839-page survey report detailed the remains of the Hindu temple in the mosque.
As per the court order, ASI has conducted a scientific survey in the mosque premises. The report mentions the fact that the mosque was built using the pillars of an earlier shrine. Earlier, the Varanasi District Court on Wednesday agreed to provide the Hindu and Muslim petitioners in the case with the report of the scientific survey conducted by the Archaeological Department of India on the Gnanavapi Masjid complex attached to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
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Also, the court directed both the petitioners to submit an affidavit to the court not to make the report public. The Varanasi court, which upheld the argument of the Hindu petitioners that the Jnanavapi Masjid was built in the 17th century on the original foundation of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a scientific survey of the site and submit a report. The ASI submitted a report in a sealed envelope to the court on December 18. Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer for the Hindu petitioner, demanded to submit a report at this time.
It could not be disclosed as the Muslim petitioner objected to this. Advocate Mumtaz Ahmed represented the respondent Anjuman Intejamia Masjid Committee.
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“After demolishing the temple, a small change was made in the pillars. Hindu ideas on the pillars have been deleted. The design of the walls has been changed,'' lawyer Jain said as quoted in the report.
