Lucknow
The Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench on Thursday dismissed the petition seeking the opening of 22 rooms in the Taj Mahal premises. The two-judge bench ripped into the petitioner who sought the opening of the 22 locked rooms, stating that the truth about the iconic monument needs to come out and that he has filed multiple PILs for the same.
"Tomorrow you will ask for permission to see our chambers. Please, don't make a mockery of the PIL system," the bench said during the hearing.
The writ petition, seeking to "find the truth" behind the 22 locked rooms in the Taj Mahal, was filed last week before the Lucknow bench by Rajneesh Singh, who is the media in charge of the BJP's Ayodhya unit. The petition cited the claims of some historians and Hindu groups about the mausoleum being an old Shiva temple. The petition has sought the Archaeological Survey of India form a special committee to examine the locked rooms and release the report to the public.
Singh said that the demand is not to make the Taj Mahal a temple but to bring out the truth of the matter for the sake of social harmony. He said that the only way to end such controversy is by examining closed rooms.
Justices D.K. Upadhyay and Subhash Vidyarthi questioned the petitioner on what his plea is. Pointing out that the petitioner wants the court to issue a writ of mandamus, they stated it can only be issued in case of infringement of rights.
"What judgment do you want us to pronounce? Who built the Taj Mahal? Don't go into historical facts... Mandamus can only be issued when rights have been infringed. What rights of yours have been infringed?" the bench asked.
The petitioner said he is asking for a fact-finding committee to be constituted to get to the bottom of the issue and reiterated his demand to be allowed access to the 22 rooms as the "truth" needs to emerge about the Taj Mahal. Citizens need to know why multiple rooms in the monument are said to be locked due to "security reasons", he said.
The bench responded sharply, saying: "Who are you asking the information from? If you are not satisfied that the rooms have been closed for security reasons, use your remedies in law to challenge that. Do some research first -- do MA, Ph.D.; enroll yourself somewhere. Don't make a mockery of this."
Several right-wing organizations claim the Taj Mahal to be Tejo Mahalaya, a Hindu temple.
The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition seeking directions from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for opening 20 Rooms of the Taj Mahal in Agra by setting up a fact-finding committee to research the “real history” behind the Taj Mahal was a Mughal structure.
“It is not for the Court to direct what subject needs to be researched or studied. the issues lie outside the court and should be done by various methodology and left with the historian,” the court said.
“Are We Here To Decide Who Built Taj Mahal? Tomorrow you will want to go Inside Judges' Chambers,” the court said while pulling up the petitioner Dr. Rajneesh Singh.
Singh is the media in charge of the BJP’s Ayodhya unit. In his petition, he had claimed that false history about the Taj Mahal was being taught, and he wanted to do research by accessing the closed rooms to find out the truth.
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