Decide Hindu Sena President’s Representation On ‘Wrong Historical Facts’ About Taj Mahal: Delhi High Court To ASI

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to decide a representation submitted by the President of NGO Hindu Sena alleging that there are “wrong historical facts” in public domain regarding construction of Taj Mahal by Shahajahan.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela disposed of a PIL filed by President Surjit Singh Yadav seeking removal of allegedly “wrong historical facts” on the monument’s construction by Shahjahan from the history books in schools and colleges.

Yadav had given a representation to ASI on January 07 after the Supreme Court in December last year refused to entertain his petition seeking directions to ASI to determine the "correct age" of Taj Mahal and to remove "wrong facts" from history books regarding the monument. Yadav had withdrawn his petition while proposing that he will be submitting a representation to the ASI.

It was Yadav’s case that there is no historical evidence of demolition of palace of Raja Man Singh and fresh construction of Taj Mahal on the same site.

Yadav had sought a direction on ASI to carryout an investigation about the age of Taj Mahal, including existence of palace of Raja Man Singh as on December 31, 1631, and to file a report before the court.

A direction was also sought on the Central Government to publish the “correct history” of Raja Man Singh’s palace, which had been renovated by Shahajhan w.e.f. 1632 to 1638, claiming that the said facts can be culled out from a book namely Padshahnama authored by Abdul Hamid Lahori and Qazwini.

Yadav claimed that the source of knowledge of the facts alleged in the plea are from public records, RTI applications, websites and historical books.

“BECAUSE the people have a Right to Know about the true facts and information related to the history of construction of Taj Mahal and non-disclosure of the same or putting across incorrect facts related to Taj Mahal's construction in the public domain would deprive the people of true knowledge of the actual historical facts about the construction of Taj Mahal and this would be absolute violation of Article 21 and Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India,” the plea stated.

It was averred that ASI has given “wrong information” on its website that it took approximately 17 years to complete construction of Taj Mahal in 1648. Yadav has claimed that the Tomb of Mumtaz Mahal was nearly complete by 1638.

Therefore, the historical fact propagating 17 years period spent in making of Taj Mahal is factually incorrect, the plea stated.

Title: SURJIT SINGH YADAV v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 1050