Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on April 9 reserved its order on the
Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) petition seeking two more months for
completion of excavation at the disputed site in Ayodhya even as it asked
authorities to explain why its order to engage adequate number of Muslims for the
digging was not complied with.
The special full Bench of the High Court's Lucknow Bench comprising Justice Sudhir
Narain, Justice S R Alam and Justice Bhanwar Singh, on a petition by Sunni Central
Waqf Board, asked Divisional Commissioner of Faizabad, PWD (Public Works Department)
engineers and contractors to appear before it tomorrow and clarify as to why the
court's March 26 order for engaging adequate number of Muslims in the digging work
had not been complied with.
In its petition the Sunni Central Waqf Board said despite the court order, the
authorities had so far not engaged adequate number of Muslim labourers in the
excavation being carried out by the ASI to ascertain if the Babri Masjid was built
on a temple.
The ASI, in its petition before the court hearing the Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid
title suit, sought an additional time of two months to complete the excavation.
PTI
