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New Delhi:

The hard copy of the survey report on the Gyanvapi mosque should be given to the petitioners and others party to the case, the Varanasi district judge hearing the Gyanvapi case has said. The report however, will not be made public today.

The report was filed in the court in a sealed cover almost a month ago. The court order will be received by this evening, after which, all parties will have to apply to the court. After the application, the survey report will be photocopied and given to the parties.

It may be a week before the report is made public.

The report is crucial to the decision in the case, in which the Hindu side contends the mosque has been built over a temple and demands the right to worship.

The ASI had been conducting the survey since August 4 last year on the Gyanvapi mosque premises. It has only left out the Wuzukhana area, which was sealed by the order of the Supreme Court.

The ASI had submitted the report after receiving multiple deadline extensions from the court, which had ordered te survey on July 21. The order came following a petition by four women who claimed it was the only way to determine whether the landmark mosque was built after razing a Hindu temple.

In April last year, the court ordered a video survey of the complex based on that petition. The survey conducted in May revealed a structure in the Wuzukhana that the petitioners claimed was a ‘shivling’.