The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday began hearing a plea against a district court order directing the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a survey to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi was built upon a temple.

The plea is being heard in the court of Prakash Padia.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had halted the ASI survey till 5 pm Wednesday, allowing time for the mosque management to appeal against the lower court’s order.

The mosque is located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple and Hindu litigants in the district court had sought the survey to determine whether a temple existed at the same spot earlier.

The Varanasi district court had ordered the ASI Friday to conduct a survey using technologies like ground penetrating radar and excavations, if necessary.

The apex court order to pause the survey came while the ASI team was inside the complex.

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