HC hauls up authorities for mismanagement in Ajmer Sharif

New Delhi, Oct 30 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today expressed anguish over increasing mismanagement in the Ajmer Sharif shrine of Rajasthan.

Hearing a PIL by a Delhi based NGO Hum Apke, a Division Bench comprising Justices T S Thakur and Veena Birbal directed the Centre to file its affidavit on their response to various suggestions by February 11.

When the counsel for the NGO submitted a report on the increasing pattern of petty crimes in the 'Dargah', the court asked as to why the shrine could not be managed on the lines of Vaishno Devi.

''Millions of devotees visit Vaishno Devi. Yet it is always clean.

There has rarely been any report of a petty crime. Why can't you do it in Ajmer Sharif,'' the court asked.

''We won't allow such mismanagement in Ajmer Sharif. It is a national monument after all,'' the court observed, adding ''don't remain frozen in time and traditions.'' According to the bench, petty crimes like pick-pocketing in the vicinity of the shrine gives a bad impression.

The court ordered the state counsel to file affidavit by February 11 on the steps taken to check the menace since the incidents of crime in the 'Dargah' vicinity are not new.

UNI