Archaeological Body Gets 10-Day Extension For Survey Of Bhojshala Complex

The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday granted 10 more days to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to submit its survey report of the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque complex in the state's Dhar district.

The court ordered the ASI to present the complete report of the nearly three-month-long survey on the premises of the disputed 11th-century monument, the subject of a wrangle between Hindus and Muslims, by July 15.

According to the previous order of the high court, the ASI was required to submit its complete survey report of the complex by July 2, but the agency moved a plea on the last day seeking another four weeks for the report submission.

In the plea, ASI contended that the Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) had sought three weeks to study the huge data collected during the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)-Geographic Information System (GIS) survey of the medieval-era structure and submit a final report.

The bench of Justice Sushruta Arvind Dharmadhikari and Duppala Venkata Ramana said on Thursday that sufficient time has already been given to the ASI.

When the ASI's counsel reiterated the plea for extension, the bench ordered that the entire survey report of the Bhojshala-Kamal Moula Masjid complex be submitted to the court by July 15 and its copy be provided to all the parties concerned.

During the hearing, the ASI told the court that it had completed the survey of the premises.

Senior advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing for the Muslim side, said the ASI should clarify in the court that it will not carry out any further excavation on the disputed premises after the survey.

ASI's counsel Himanshu Joshi said no excavation was being carried out inside the complex but the ground was being levelled so that the water accumulated during rains does not cause any damage to the monument.

The high court listed the matter for further hearing on July 22.

The Hindu community considers Bhojshala as a temple of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim side calls it Kamal Maula Mosque.

On March 11, the HC had ordered the ASI, the country's premier agency for archaeological researches and protection of cultural heritage, to conduct a scientific survey of the complex on an application by 'Hindu Front for Justice'.

The ASI began surveying the disputed complex on March 22 which ended recently.

The agency had issued an order on April 7, 2003, concerning access to the monument after a controversy erupted.

As per the order, which has been in place for the last 21 years, Hindus are allowed to worship in the Bhojshala every Tuesday, while Muslims are allowed to offer namaz at this place every Friday. The Hindu Front for Justice has challenged this arrangement in its petition. 

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