The Supreme Court’s decision in 2023 not to stay a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex has encouraged various groups to request similar surveys for other disputed religious sites across India. On August 4, 2023, the Court allowed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to investigate the mosque complex in Varanasi to determine if a Hindu temple predated the 17th-century mosque, employing “non-invasive methodology.”
This ruling follows significant observations made by the Court in May 2022, asserting that the religious character of a place of worship could be ascertained without contravening the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991, which generally prohibits changes to the religious nature of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947.
Since this pivotal decision, courts have received numerous petitions challenging the Act, seeking permissions for surveys and claims over religious structures. Notably, on December 14, 2023, the Allahabad High Court approved a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah Mosque complex located adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple in Mathura. However, the Supreme Court, led by Justice (now Chief Justice of India) Sanjiv Khanna, later stayed this order on January 16 due to legal complexities, citing a “vague” application regarding the survey appointment.
Tensions flared in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal when a court-ordered survey commenced at a Mughal-era Jama Masjid following claims that it was originally a Harihar Temple. The situation escalated into violence on November 24, resulting in four deaths and over 20 injuries.
Further complicating the landscape of disputed religious sites, a court in Ajmer issued notices related to a claim that a Shiva temple existed at the site of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti’s dargah. Meanwhile, in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district, the Supreme Court refused to halt a scientific survey of Bhojshala, believed by Hindus to be a temple to Goddess Saraswati and by Muslims as Kamal Maula Mosque.
In Varanasi, the district court directed the ASI on July 21, 2023, to conduct a detailed scientific survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque to investigate claims that it was built over a demolished temple. The survey will not include the mosque’s ablution pond, where Hindu litigants claim a “shivling” is located, following an earlier Supreme Court order to protect the site.
