ASI's Gyanvapi report filed in a sealed cover

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Monday filed before the court of the Varanasi district judge a report on the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque that is set to open the next chapter in a decades-old religious dispute, test India's legal system, and trigger a new political narrative.

- Sudhir Kumar

The report, in a sealed packet, was filed before district judge Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha, according to the Union government's standing counsel Amit Srivastava, who appeared for ASI. In another sealed packet, the ASI team submitted a list of objects found during the survey.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, on Monday, filed an application in urging the court that the report should be remain sealed, and not be given to any of the parties unless a personal undertaking on an affidavit is submitted that it will not be leaked.

Akhlaque Ahmad, who appeared for the mosque committee, said the court had agreed to next hear the matter on December 21.

Meanwhile, Vishnu Shankar Jain, the counsel for the four Hindu women in the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case, on Monday filed an application on their behalf, seeking a copy of the survey report.

"By filing an application, we have prayed to the court to provide a copy of the survey report to us," Jain said, "The court has fixed December 21 as the date of hearing," he adding, indicating that Thursday will be a crucial and critical day in what happens next in the saga.