SC directs Defence Colony RWA to handover heritage site Gumti of Shaikh Ali’s possession to Ministry of Urban Affairs

Emphasising that the heritage site must be preserved and if need be, restored, the Court directed the Archaeology Department to prepare a plan for preventing its decay and for its restoring, the same be presented before the Court.

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Gumti of Shaikh Ali

Supreme Court: While considering the instant matter revolving around unauthorised occupation of site known as the Gumti of Shaikh Ali by the Defence Colony Resident Welfare Association (Respondent 4); the Division Bench of Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, JJ., directed Respondent 4 to handover the peaceful possession of the site to the concerned officer in Land and Development Office, Ministry of Urban Affairs, Government of India.

The Court also directed the NCT of Delhi to provide all possible help in removing encroachment from the said property along with Respondent 4 and if need be, with Municipal Corporation, Delhi. The Department of Archaeology, NCT of Delhi shall also provide an ‘expert’ in such matters, at the time when the Respondent 4 is removing its furniture and fittings from the premises so that the least harm is done to the building.

During the hearing of the instant petition, the Court took note of the detailed report prepared by Dr. Swapna Liddle, after personally inspecting Gumti of Shaikh Ali in pursuant to the Court’s order dated 12-11-2024. The report stated that the structure is of late 15th century of Lodhi Era and has a unique architectural design and is a heritage building.

Appreciating the efforts of Dr. Liddle, the Court noted that her report came down heavily on the poor maintenance and the encroachment upon the property by the RWA amongst others. As per the report if urgent measures are not taken, then the heritage structure will decay very soon.

The Court said that historical and archaeological importance of the Gumti is an admitted fact and therefore, it was opined that this site must be preserved and if need be, restored.

Thus, the Court directed Department of Archaeology (NCT of Delhi) to prepare a plan for preventing its decay and for its restoring, the same be presented before the Court preferably within a period of three weeks.

The Court also appointed Gopal Shankar Narayan, Senior Advocate (subject to his consent), as the Commissioner of the Court who shall supervise the handing and taking over as ordered and file a report on or before the next date of listing.

The matter was listed for next hearing on 18-02-2025.

CASE DETAILS

Citation:
Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s). 12213/2019

Appellants :
Rajeev Suri

Respondents :
Archaeological Survey of India

Advocates who appeared in this case

For Petitioner(s):
Mr. Shikhil Shiv Suri, Sr. Adv. Mrs. Madhu Suri, Adv. Ms. Jyoti Suri, Adv. Ms. Ishita Ahuja, Adv. Mr. Vibhor Choudhary, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Jha, Adv. Mr. Deva Vrat Anand, Adv. Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR Mr. Ajay Kumar Singh, AOR Mr. Neeraj Sharma, Adv. Mr. Yatharth Singh, Adv. Mr. Divesh Kumar, Adv. Ms. Moulishree Pathak, Adv.

For Respondent(s):
Mr. S.D. Sanjay, ASG Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR Mr. A. Sahay, Adv. Mr. Siddhant Kohu, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv. Mr. Mrigank Pathak, Adv. Mr. Sudarshan Lamba, AOR Mr. S.D. Sanjay, A.S.G. Mr. Siddhant Kohli, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv. Mr. Mrigank Pathak, Adv. Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. Udai Khanna, Adv. Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Shivika Mehra, Adv. Ms. Sunita Sharma, Adv. Mr. B. L. N. Shivani, Adv. Ms. Satvika Thakur, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Rakesh Sinha, Adv. Mr. Arvind Gupta, AOR Mr. Md Ghulam Akbar, Adv. Mr. Jeemon Raju K, Adv. Ms. Shruti Shashi, Adv. Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, AOR Mr. Jai Nirupam, Adv. Mr. D Girish Kumar, Adv. Mr. Pranav Giri, Adv. Mr. Rajkumar Bhaskar Thakare, A.S.G. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. Prasenjeet Mohapatra, Adv. Mr. Sanjay Kumar Tyagi, Adv. Ms. Neelakshi Bhadauria, Adv.

CORAM :

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