HC hears plea claiming temple exists inside Taj Mahal, seeks reply from Centre, ASI
The Allahabad High Court on Monday asked the Centre and the Archaeological Survey of India to file a counter-affidavit on a writ petition seeking a
The Allahabad High Court on Monday asked the Centre and the Archaeological Survey of India to file a counter-affidavit on a writ petition seeking a declaration that the Agreshwar Mahadev Nagnatheswar Virajman Tejo Mahalaya temple is present inside the Taj Mahal premises. The court was hearing a petition challenging orders of district courts in Agra which had refused to appoint an advocate commissioner to survey the disputed premises. Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal also issued notice to Pankaj Kumar Verma, named as respondent number 4 in the writ petition.
Read Full Story The petition was filed on July 3 by the Agreshwar Mahadev Nagnatheswar Virajman Tejo Mahalaya temple, Hari Shankar Jain and four others. A declaratory suit filed in 2015 is pending before the court of the Civil Judge (Senior Division) in Agra, seeking a declaration that the temple is present in the Taj Mahal premises. Appearing before the court, Hari Shankar Jain said his application for appointing an advocate commissioner, as well as for photography of the premises in dispute, had been wrongly rejected by the trial court.
He also said the revision petition was later dismissed as not maintainable, though the exercise was necessary for adjudication of the dispute. The present petition was filed against the orders of the district court at Agra, under which both the Civil Judge (Senior Division) and the Additional District Judge declined to appoint an advocate commission to survey the disputed premises. The Union of India, the Archaeological Survey of India and Pankaj Kumar Verma have been made parties in the case.
In sum, the High Court has sought responses from the Centre and the ASI and issued notice to another respondent while hearing a challenge to lower court orders refusing a survey in the long-pending suit over the claim that the Agreshwar Mahadev Nagnatheswar Virajman Tejo Mahalaya temple exists within the Taj Mahal complex. Ends With PTI inputs
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