The Supreme Court came down heavily on the Defence Colony Welfare Association (DCWA) on Tuesday for illegally occupying the Gumti of Shaikh Ali at Defence Colony in Delhi and the Archaeological Survey of India for allegedly failing to stop the same.
The Bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, after perusing a status report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), said the illegal occupation of the tomb by DCWA could not be allowed.
The Counsel appearing for DCWA said the residents have been there for decades.
Rejecting the argument, the top court of the country warned that if the need arose, it would evict the association in an open court.
The DCWA counsel said that if it did not occupy the tomb, anti-social elements might have come.
The Apex Court responded that DCWA was speaking like colonial rulers, like if they had not come, what would have happened to India.
The Bench also rebuked the ASI for allowing the illegal occupation of the 700-year-old Lodi-era tomb by DCWA. The association had put up false ceilings and installed electric fans & furniture inside the tomb.
Noting that ASI had gone against its own mandate, the Bench appointed an expert to study the extent of damage caused to the tomb and suggest restoration measures. The expert was ordered to submit the report within six weeks.
Appreciating the CBI and petitioner Rajeev Suri for highlighting the encroachment, the top court of the country listed the matter for further hearing on January 21.
The Bench passed the order on a petition seeking directions for the protection and preservation of the Gumti located next to the Defence Colony market.
As per the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities, the octagonal tomb was built during the Lodi period more than 500 years ago.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had refused to entertain the petition that sought declaring the tomb as a monument of national importance.
In July 2019, the Apex Court had issued notice on the appeal, and passed a status quo order in March this year.
The petition before the Apex Court said that the national capital’s civic body had been trying to construct multi-level car parking and shopping plaza on the open land around the tomb.
The counsels appearing for the ASI and the Union government apprised the Apex Court in April this year that the structure was never allotted to the DCWA.
In August 2024, the top court of the country directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary enquiry to find out how the Gumti came to be occupied by DCWA.
The Bench further directed the national agency to also examine how and under what circumstances the Centre and ASI had backtracked from their earlier stance of declaring the structure a protected monument. It was also asked to probe the additions or alterations made to the Gumti and to find out why the authorities had not taken any preventive action.
Petitioner Rajeev Suri appeared in-person. He was represented by Senior Advocate Shikhil Shiv Suri and Advocate TRB Sivakumar.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, along with Advocates Amrish Kumar and Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, appeared for the Union government, the ASI, and the Land & Development Office.
The DCWA was represented by Advocates Rakesh Sinha, Arvind Gupta, Ghulam Akbar, Jeemon Raju K, Shruti Shashi and Sushant Shekhar.