Allahabad High Court on Wednesday extended the stay on the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi by the Archaeological Survey of India by 24 hours and posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday.

The matter was heard by the single bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker that had asked all the stakeholders to submit their replies and explain whether any physical damage to the Islamic structure was possible in the course of the survey.

Sayed Farman Naqvi, the counsel for the Anjuman Intezamia Committee that manages the mosque, requested the high court to suspend the survey permanently“because it would damagethe many-centuries-old building”.

“The government and the Archaeological Survey of India wanted to resume the survey soon. But the court extended the stay till 5pm on Thursday. Any survey will damage the building and tamper with the Islamic antique cultural symbol,” Naqvi was quoted as saying to the reporters in Allahabad.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, the counsel for the Hindu, told reporters that they had opposed any stay on the survey.

“Perhaps the court will listen to us during its next hearing on Thursday. We have informed the high court that the ASI is using the radar system through which the age of the building can be ascertained without causing any physical harm. We want to prove that the structure was built during Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s time by destroying a portion of the Kashi-Vishwanath temple,” he added.

The Supreme Court had earlier stayed the survey till 5pm on Wednesday.