The Supreme Court on Friday stayed any new
construction or renovation at the centuries-old religious structures inside the
Mehrauli Archaeological Park in the capital including the 13th Century Ashiq
Allah Dargah and Chillagah of Baba Farid, the revered Sufi saint.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and
Justice Sanjay Kumar was hearing a plea filed by one Zameer Ahmed Jumlana
seeking protection of the religious structures inside the archaeological park
from demolition.
Senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta referred to the
Archeological Survey of India's (ASI) status report and said a historical
monument found there was built around 700 years ago.
The CJI said people keep encroaching and putting up
shops to earn money while asking the ASI to prepare a site plan to ensure no
further encroachment.
Additional solicitor general K M Nataraj said, Let
us find out which are built newly and which are old." A lawyer said
these monuments were not declared protected ones and, therefore, there was no
problem if they were renovated.
The bench said for the renovation, permission under
the existing laws would be needed.
The ASI has submitted an interim status report. The
original structure as it existed has to be ascertained and verified. List on
April 28. The ASI will have to submit further status reports and the parties
can file their objections/submissions. There shall not be any construction at
the existing site, it said.
The ASI previously said two structures inside the
archaeological park bore religious significance as Muslim devotees paid daily
visits to the Ashiq Allah Dargah and Chillagah of Sufi saint Baba Farid.
An inscription, the ASI said, on the tomb of Shaikh
Shahibuddin (Ashiq Allah) says it was constructed in the year 1317 AD.
"The structural modifications and alterations
for the sake of restoration and conservation have impacted the historicity of
the place," it added.
The ASI submitted 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.
Jumlana, in his plea, said the Delhi Development
Authority had planned the demolition of the structures in the name of removing
encroachments without assessing their historical significance.
He has moved the top court against a February 8
Delhi High Court order which said Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena-led religious
committee could consider the matter.
Jumlana contended the committee was not an
appropriate forum to decide the antiquity of a structure.