The Supreme Court has refused to entertain petition which requests to direct ASI for determining the correct age of Taj Mahal and for removal of the incorrect facts from history books regarding the monument.
A bench comprising Justice MR Shah and Justice CT Ravikumar asked as to what type of PIL it is? The bench questioned how will the court decide what historical facts are right or wrong.
The petitioner then withdrew the petition. The petition was accordingly withdrawn with liberty to file a representation before the ASI.
Two months ago, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain a similar PIL which sought to ascertain the “real history” of Taj Mahal and to open the closed chambers of the monument.
The petitioner contended that there was no scientific evidence to buttress the claim that Mughal emperor Shahjahan built Taj Mahal for his wife Mumtaz Mahal by engaging around 20,000 people, who worked day and night for 22 years between 1631 to 1653, to complete the construction.
The plea further sought direction to the Union government to constitute a fact-finding committee, to search the monument for important historical evidence, such as idols and inscriptions, believed to have been kept inside Taj Mahal on the orders of Shah Jahan.
The petitioner had moved the Supreme Court, after the Allahabad High Court had disposed of his plea on the matter.
Singh had claimed before the Allahabad High Court that many Hindu groups have been claiming that Taj Mahal is an old Shiva Temple, which was known as Tejo Mahalaya, a theory supported by many historians as well.
He said these claims have led to a situation, where Hindus and Muslims were fighting with each other and therefore, the controversy needs to be put to rest.
As per the petitioner, there were 22 rooms situated in the upper and lower portion of the four-storied building of Taj Mahal that were permanently locked, with historians like PN Oak and many Hindu worshippers making claims time and again that a Shiva temple lies in those rooms.