New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court order directing the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to carry out excavation work to determine whether a temple pre-existed the demolished Babri Masjid at Ayodhya.

The Special Leave Petition has been filed by one Naved Yar Khan, who had earlier unsuccessfully challenged the same order before the apex court.

Khan said that he has filed an SLP on May 12 titled Naved Yar Khan Vs Param Hans and others "challenging the order of the High Court for excavation at the disputed Ram Janambhumi-Babri Masjid site".

The Supreme Court on March 31 had dismissed Khan's writ petition seeking stay of the High Court order on the ground that as a Muslim his fundamental rights were affected by the order directing excavation of the disputed site.

He had also stressed that the order of the High Court was violative of the Supreme Court's 1994 directive to maintain status quo at the disputed site.

On March 5, the Allahabad High Court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India to undertake excavation of the disputed site within a week and complete the process within a month to ascertain whether a temple existed at the place where Babri Masjid was built. The excavation is still on.

PTI