Varanasi court gives 10 more days to ASI to submit survey report of Gyanvapi

The Varanasi district court on Thursday gave 10 more days to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to complete and submit a scientific survey report of the Gyanvapi complex.

Taking up the plea of the ASI seeking three additional weeks to submit the report, District Judge A K Vishvesh said he hoped that the ASI would complete the task on time and would not ask for more time, according to counsel for the Hindu side Madan Mohan Yadav.

The court fixed December 11 as the next date of hearing in the matter, Yadav said.

The court was hearing the ASI plea moved on Tuesday seeking three more weeks for submitting the survey report of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, saying it needed more time for the assimilation of information generated by different experts.

The ASI started the survey in the barricaded area of the Gyanvapi premises, excluding its sealed section, on August 4, following court orders to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.