The Supreme Court on Wednesday (October 7) passed some serious orders against the authorities of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) after finding serious deficiencies in the preservation of heritage sites in Delhi.

The Court was aghast to note that a Lodhi-era monument was now being used as a cow-shed, and that a 13-th century structure was under private encroachment.

The bench comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice NK Singh told the Director General of the ASI, who was present in the Court pursuant to its last order, that none of the heritage sites is worth visiting because of the apparent negligence on the part of the ASI. It also stated that the MCD is no more capable of maintaining any heritage sites in Delhi.

It may be recalled that the present matter relates to the protection of heritage sites in Delhi wherein the Court had initially ordered for the preservation of Lodhi-era Shaikh Ali 'Gumti' and later expanded the proceedings to cover all such monuments through the assistance of Senior Advocate and Court Commissioner for this matter, Gopal Sankaranarayanan.

Previously, the court commissioner had brought to its notice various reports from The Hindustan Times and Times of India about the condition of various monuments which have become a garbage dumping site due to the sheer negligence of ASI and MCD. The bench had observed that both authorities lied on affidavit, as they claimed that these were well-maintained.

13th century Lal Mahal

Sankaranarayanan yesterday mentioned that Lal Mahal, which is a 13th-century historic palace in Nizamuddin, was also cited in the scholarly writings of Ibn Battuta. He stated that this is an example of the "greatest" negligence on the part of both ASI and MCD, as the monument has not just suffered partial demolition but also encroachment by private builders.

He also questioned why this monument has not been notified by the ASI as protected.

He informed the bench that he had gone with his team to inspect the monument, but they were not allowed, citing that it's private property. This prompted the bench comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice NK Singh to ask the MCD and ASI officers what the status of the monument is, whether it is private or public. Justice Amanullah said: "Yes, Mr Sanjay[MCD Counsel] what in your record is the position of that area?"

Senior Advocate SD Sanjay responded that the area is private and that it doesn't come within the jurisdiction of the MCD, to which the judge then asked for the holding number of the private land. Since the counsel couldn't respond, the bench then criticised the response, remarking that the three officers who filed the affidavit without knowing whether the area falls within the MCD or not should be immediately suspended for being ignorant. "You are totally casual...Give us the names of the officers who have instructed you! We will suspend them today itself from the Court. Unbelievably shocking."

ASI has made no heritage site worth visiting

Sankaranarayanan also spoke about another neglected monument, the Lodhi-era Zamroodpur tombs, which he stated now houses a cow shed and is being used as a dumping ground.

At this, Justice Amanullah called the Director General of ASI and sought an explanation. He also questioned MCD: "How dare you use it as gaushala[cow shed]?...I don't think MCD is capable of maintaining monuments. One may be an accident but when you see a series of monuments, what happens is that on the floor of the monuments they have started dumping garbage fourteen-sixteen inches. When they have to go and clean over possibly 20 years of garbage, that is why it takes time. I don't think very honestly, all our after inspection, I don't think they have the capacity."

To ASI, he said: "They only want to collect funds, they just keep their guards their, nothing even moving around. Nobody will go to ASI sites in Delhi. ASI has totally lost their credibility...Nothing to do, they only earn grants, have hundreds of people on the payroll..."

Although the bench wanted to pass stringent orders against the authorities, it granted them a last chance to file a fresh affidavit.

It ordered: "A report has been filed on behalf of the learned Court Commissioner. We have gone through the same, and we find an absolute lack of cohesion from different government bodies. We further find that officers of the departments have not understood the seriousness and the manner in which they are required to act...we find a total lack of approach in a manner which will indicate that they are serious with regard to what they are saying before the court and what they implement on the ground.

The status report, the details with regards to ownership, the settlement, and current position are not forthcoming, and the authorities, which in law are presumed to have knowledge and are supposed to keep records, are peacefully ignorant of details. Now, the time has come for us to take drastic action by passing strict orders. However, at request of the counsels, by way of last indulgence, the Court restrains from passing any stringent order for the present. We feel the central government officers need to be made in charge to coordinate the issue with other officers.

We think in view of the nature of the proceedings, we deem it appropriate that the Department of History and Culture, Government of India, through the Secretary, should be impleaded. On the next date of listing, the Secretary, Ministry of Culture, the Commissioner, MCD; NDMC; Secretary, Department of Archaeology, NCT Delhi, DG of ASI, Vice Chairman DDA as also the DG of Central Public Works Department shall be present in Court. DTTSC shall be present when the matter is listed at 1 pm October 16. Any other engagement stands cancelled, and there will be no substitute or nominee shall be sent to this court.

As far as Delhi Golf Club, we are not happy with the affidavit. It was supposed to give details explaining the procedure. A fresh affidavit shall be filed with reference to the rules."