Ajay Krishna Vishvesha, the district judge for Varanasi, received two sealed envelopes containing the Archaeological Survey of India's report on the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex. The court set December 21 for the next hearing. After seven extensions, the survey was finished.
According to standing government counsel Amit Srivastava, one envelope held the report, and the other comprised a list of items discovered in debris at the mosque compound and placed in the treasury under the DM's supervision. Defendants Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM) asked that the report be put in a sealed envelope to protect its confidentially prior to its filing.
Ahead of the report’s filing, defendants Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM) - the Gyanvapi mosque management committee - requested that the report be filed in a sealed envelope and not supplied to any party without a personal undertaking, through an affidavit, ensuring its confidentiality. Regarding the application filed before the judge, AIM advocate Akhlaqe Ahmad said the request was made to ensure the report “won’t be leaked nor any comments made” until it is examined.
Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer representing the four plaintiffs, strongly opposed this request. He emphasised that there is no provision for filing the ASI report in a sealed cover, and no such order has been issued by the Supreme Court. “We registered our objection before the district judge and also demanded a copy of the ASI report,” Jain told media, while asserting the court will address the demand on December 21.