HC dismisses PIL to open locked rooms of Taj Mahal

Lucknow, May 12 (UNI) The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to open closed rooms of Taj Mahal and constitution of a fact finding committee to study it.
The PIL filed by Dr Rajneesh Singh was dismissed by the bench of Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi.
In the PIL while referring to a book written by historian PN Oak it was claimed that Taj Mahal is actually Tejomahalay, which was built by Raja Parmardi Dev in 1212 AD. It was also claimed that there is a Shiva temple behind the closed doors of the Taj Mahal.
In the PIL recent dispute wherein Jagatguru Paramhans of Ayodhya being prevented from entering the Taj Mahal as he was wearing ochre coloured cloths was also mentioned.
The petitioner has sought direction to constitute a fact finding committee for the study and the open 20 closed rooms of the Taj Mahal.
During hearing on maintainability of the PIL, the counsel of the petitioner said that the people of the country need to know the truth about the Taj Mahal. “I have filed several applications under RTI. I have come to know that around 20 rooms are locked and on behalf of the administration it has been said that this has been done for security reasons,” the petitioner pleaded in the PIL.
Replying to this the Uttar Pradesh government counsel said that a case is already lodged in Agra in this connection and the petitioner has no jurisdiction over it. On the other hand the petitioner said that he was not pleading on the fact that whether that land is associated with Lord Shiva or Allah. His main issue was the locked rooms and everyone should know what is there behind the closed doors.
The bench told the petitioner, “Go go MA and after that select such a subject. If any institution prevents you from doing so then come to us.”
The bench asked the petitioner, “From whom are you seeking information?” In reply to this the petitioner said, “From the administration.”
On this the bench remarked, “If they have said that the rooms are locked due to security reasons, then it’s the information. If your are not satisfied then you challenge it. You do MA and then NET and JRF and if any university prevents you to do research on this subject then come to us,”
The court said that the petitioner should remain confined to his petition and dismissed it.