SC notices to Centre, ASI, on dance in Taj Mahal premises

New Delhi, July 30 (UNI) The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre and the Archaeological Survey of India, asking them to file a response within a week on a media report about a dance performance in front of the sanctum sanctorum of the Taj Mahal.

A bench, comprising Justices S B Sinha, S H Kapadia and D K Jain, issued the notices on a news item and a photograph published in a national daily on January 31, 2007.

The issue was brought to the notice of the court by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) counsel Vijay Panjwani, who alleged that the dance performance was in utter violation of the court's order and the provisions of the Ancient Monuments Act, which ban all performances inside protected historical monuments.

The Centre and the ASI were asked to submit details of the performance and the permit, if granted, by the government department concerned.

In March 1998, the Supreme Court had banned all performances inside the Taj Mahal. It had said all the shows should be held at least 500 metres away from the boundary walls.

The court also directed the Centre and the ASI to submit the report of the road widening project which proposed to fell 3,500 trees from the road leading to the Taj Mahal.

UNI