The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a plea to declare ‘Gumti of Sheikh Ali’, an ancient monument here at Defence Colony, as monument of national importance.
A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao reasoned that the Central government has taken a decision not to declare the monument as a national monument or centrally protected monument.
“So far as Gumti of Sheikh Ali, situated in Defence Colony, New Delhi, is concerned, the Central government has already examined the issue and it was decided against notifying the said monument as a protected monument,” the Bench said.
The High Court noted the contention of the government that it is not possible to bring the monument under protection of Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act as the Residents Association had carried out major alterations due to which the “Gumti” has lost its originality.
Mr Rajeev Suri, in his petition before the high court, had said that the Defence Colony Residents Association has been using the ‘Gumti’ as its office.
Survey of monuments
He contended that the ‘Gumti’ finds mention in the exhaustive and seminal survey of the monuments of Delhi, carried out in 1920’s by Maulvi Zafar Hasan, the then Deputy Superintending Archaeologist, published in 1926 by the Archaeological Survey of India as “List of Muhammadan and Hindu Monuments”.
The plea argued that a perusal of the entry of 1926 regarding the said monument, it was mentioned that the tomb is of the Lodi period. There are two unknown graves, and the monument should protected, Mr Suri said.
He further said that in 2004, the ASI, Delhi Circle, had identified the ‘Gumti’ as of national importance.
The High Court, however said that the 2004 notification would not help Mr Suri’s case as that was only a notification under Section 4 of the AMASR Act which is in the nature of a provisional decision seeking objections before declaring a monument as a Monument of national importance.
It refused to pass any direction on the plea saying that the Centre in 2008 had decided not to declare the ‘Gumti’ as a monument of national importance.
