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Allahabad HC rejects plea to open 22 rooms of Taj Mahal, petitioner to move SC

The HC bench said ‘leave Taj Mahal to historians, go research and do MA, PhD’ calling it a 'non-justiciable' issue.

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday pulled up the petitioner seeking opening of 22 rooms in the Taj Mahal, and asked him not to make “a mockery of the PIL system”.

“Go and research. Do M.A. Do PhD.,” a bench comprising Justices DK Upadhyay and Subhash Vidyarthi said, according to Bar & Bench. “Then choose such a topic and if any institute disallows you to research on such a topic.”

Rudra Vikram Singh, lawyer for the petitioner, said, “We will challenge this order in the Supreme Court. Before moving to the Supreme Court, we will approach the Department of History and the Archaeological Survey of India.”

The plea sought the constitution of a fact-finding committee and the submission of a report by the ASI. “The first prayer (to constitute a fact-finding committee to study “real history” of Taj Mahal) cannot be adjudicated by this court,” the bench said.

“I welcome you to debate the issue with us in the drawing room and not in a court of law,” the court said.

Responding to the petition, the Allahabad High Court bench said, “Asking for a fact-finding committee to look into this does not fall under the purview of your rights, it does not fall under the ambit of RTI. We are not convinced.”

When the petitioner presented past high court and Supreme Court judgments about the freedom of religion, the court said it does not agree with the given arguments.

The petitioner has now sought permission to file an amended petition.

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