Indore: The Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday granted an additional eight weeks to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to submit its comprehensive report of the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex in Dhar district.
The six-week time period for submitting the report was scheduled to end on May 3. A hearing of the case was held today. The ASI, in its application, had sought more time to complete the study while the Muslim side had appealed against this request.
The court rejected the application of the Muslim side and gave eight weeks to ASI to complete its survey. The next hearing will be held after eight weeks.
Petitioner Ashish Goyal said, "The Muslim side is continuously claiming that the survey is not being conducted, but the manner in which the court rejected their application, will definitely be probed by the investigating agency in the coming days. The ASI will be able to present the evidence found in the banquet hall."
The Muslim side had appealed to court to stop the survey alleging that the original form of the complex was being tampered with. However their application was dismissed.
During the survey that is underway for the last one month and nine days, the ASI team has found many kinds of evidence from the complex. Abdul Samad Khan from the Muslim side had claimed to have found the idol of Gautam Buddha while the Hindu side had denied it.
The Bhojshala-Kamal Maula is a 11-century structure. Hindus regard it as a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati and offer puja on Tuesday while Muslims consider it to be a mosque and offer namaz on Friday.
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