ASI should consider supervision of Mehrauli monuments: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) should consider the supervision of monuments inside Delhi’s Mehrauli Archaeological Park including the 13th century “Ashiq Allah Dargah” and “Chillagah of Baba Farid”, the revered Sufi saint.

The apex court was acting on two appeals for directions to the authorities to desist from demolishing or removing the dargah (shrine) and other surrounding historical monuments in Mehrauli or Sanjay Van.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan noted the top court on February 28 ordered no constructions, additions or alterations in the existing structures in the area without its permission.

“Why do you want to demolish it in the first place?” the bench asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) counsel.

The DDA’s counsel said the authority was not against the dargah but there were several other unauthorised structures that had come up in the vicinity.

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“The question which really arises is, how much of it is the protected monument and how much of it is the encroachment,” the counsel said.

While the bench observed no further constructions should be carried out, it stressed on preservation of the monument.

“That monument has to be preserved. We are only concerned with the monument,” the bench said.

The counsel for the appellants, who moved against a Delhi High Court order related to the matter, argued the monuments in question were not encroachments for they had existed in the area since 12th century.

While referring to the ASI’s status report, the appellants argued though the structures might not have been treated as a centrally protected monument, the ASI could supervise their repair and maintenance.

The DDA’s counsel, however, contended the authority was concerned only with demolition of unauthorised structures encroaching public land in terms of the orders passed by the apex court.

“In the circumstances, we dispose of these appeals by observing that the ASI should take under its consideration the supervision of the monuments in question in the matter of repair, renovation,” the bench said.

One of the appellants sought protection of the religious structures inside the archaeological park from demolition.

The ASI previously said the two structures inside the archaeological park bore religious significance as Muslim devotees paid daily visits to the shrines.

An inscription, the ASI said, on the tomb of Shaikh Shahibuddin (Ashiq Allah) says it was constructed in the year 1,317 AD.

The ASI said the tomb was close to the citadel of Prithviraj Chauhan and fell within the regulated zone of 200 metre according to the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act.

Any repair, renovation or construction work required a prior permission of the competent authority, it added.

“Both structures are frequently visited. Devotees light lamps at the Ashiq Dargah for fulfilment of wishes. They visit Chillagah to get rid of evil spirits and bad omen. The place is also associated with the religious sentiment and faith of a particular religious community,” the ASI report said.

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