Supreme court dismisses plea seeking opening of 22 rooms in Taj Mahal

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has rejected a plea for a fact-finding inquiry into the history of the Taj Mahal and the opening of 22 rooms. A bench of Justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh dismissed the petition. Dr Rajneesh Singh, who is media in-charge of BJP's Ayodhya unit was the petitioner. The Allahabad High court had stated on May that the plea cannot be considered as a public interest litigation and the petitioner had failed to point out how his legal or constitutional rights were being infringed. The high court had also criticised the petitioner’s lawyer for filing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition in a casual manner, saying it could not pass an order under Article 226 of the Constitution in the matter.

According to the (National Importance) Act of 1958, Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Fort and Itimad-ud-Daulah’s tomb were declared as historical monuments. The petition also demanded to cancel this. Some claim that the Taj Mahal was a Shiva temple and suspect that the idols and inscriptions related with it are kept in sealed rooms.