Varanasi court orders ASI survey of Gyanvapi Mosque next to Kashi Vishwanath Temple

The court order to conduct the survey came while ruling on a three-decade old- petition, which stated that Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had demolished an ancient temple of "Lord Vishweshwar" and "constructed a mosque with the help of the ruins of the said temple".

In its order, the court directed the Director-General of the ASI to "constitute a five-member committee of eminent persons who are experts and well-versed in the science of archaeology, two out of which should preferably belong to the minority community".

The court also asked the ASI chief to appoint an eminent person, preferably an academic scholar, as an observer for the committee.

"The prime purpose of the Archaeological Survey shall be 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 other religious structure," the court order said.

The committee "shall also trace whether any temple belonging to the Hindu community ever existed before the mosque in question was built or superimposed or added upon it at the 'disputed' site'," the court said.

The original petition was filed in 1991 as a group of Varanasi residents contended the mosque was built over an ancient temple in 1664 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.