New Delhi: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking the opening of certain rooms of the Taj Mahal to put to rest the “alleged history” of the monument and asked the petitioner not to make “a mockery of the PIL system”.
“Go and research. Do MA. Do PhD,” a bench comprising Justices DK Upadhyay and Subhash Vidyarthi said, according to Bar and Bench. “Then choose such a topic and if any institute disallows you to research on such a topic.”
The petition was filed by one Dr Rajneesh Singh, who claimed to be the media in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ayodhya unit.
“I welcome you to debate the issue with us in the drawing room and not in a court of law,” the court said.
He contends that the Taj Mahal was a Shiva Temple, known as Tejo Mahalaya, and has asked for the government to constitute a fact-finding committee to publish the “real history” of the monument.
“Tomorrow you’ll come and ask us to go to chambers of Hon’ble judges? Please, don’t make a mockery of the PIL system.”
The plea sought a direction to the government to constitute a fact-finding committee and to “look for important historical evidence” like idols and inscriptions that are believed to be hidden inside the Taj Mahal on the orders of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
During the hearing, the Bench told the petitioner that such debates were welcome in informal settings, but not in a court of law.
“I welcome you to debate the issue with us in the drawing room and not in a court of law.”
The Court also expressed its displeasure at the plea, saying, “Are these issues debatable in a court of law? Are we judges trained and equipped with such things?”
The judges also stressed that there had to be an infringement of a right and only then could a writ of mandamus, as prayed for, be issued.
Responding to the petitioner’s argument regarding “right to information”, the Court asked if the study sought was in any way connected to the right to information, the Bar and Bench reported.
The Bench further said, “Go and research. Do M.A. Do PhD. Then choose such a topic and if any institute disallows you to research on such a topic. Then come to us. Please enroll yourself in MA, then go for NET, JRF and if any university denies you to research on such topic then come to us.”
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