The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a plea moved by Hindu women plaintiffs for cleaning the water tank in the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi that is located in an area that has been sealed.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra ordered the cleaning of the water tank under the supervision of the Varanasi district magistrate.

The direction came after Additional Solicitor General Madhavi Divan, appearing in the court on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh government, sought permission for the cleaning of the tank, saying there were dead fish in it.

The top court also noted in its order that a similar plea has been filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, the management body of the mosque, before a trial court in Varanasi.

The Varanasi district court had, on July 21 last year, directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a "detailed scientific survey" -- including excavations, wherever necessary -- to determine if the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple was built upon a temple.

The mosque's "wazukhana" (a small reservoir where devotees perform ritual ablutions), where a structure claimed by the Hindu litigants to be a "Shivling" exists, will not be part of the survey, following an earlier Supreme Court order protecting that spot in the mosque complex.

Hindu activists claim that a temple existed earlier at the site and was demolished in the 17th century on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

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