SC asked Centre, Do you want to destroy Taj Mahal?

     Written by : SMTV24x7 | Fri, Aug 18, 2017, 03:19 PM

SC asked Centre, Do you want to destroy Taj Mahal?

New Delhi, Aug 18: The Supreme Court has asked the central government that "Do you want to destroy the Taj Mahal" here on Thursday.

The scathing remarks by the court came during the hearing of an application seeking its nod to cut over 400 trees to lay down an additional railway track between Mathura in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi.

"Taj Mahal is a world-famous monument and you (government) want to destroy it? Have you seen the recent pictures of Taj? Go to the internet and have a look at it,” a Bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said.

“If you want, then file an affidavit or application and say that the Union of India wants to destroy the Taj,” the Bench said.



The apex court, which is dealing with a petition filed by environmentalist M C Mehta, has been monitoring development in the area to protect the historic Taj Mahal, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz in 1631 and which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The court was hearing an application which has sought its nod to cut around 450 trees there in an around 80 km stretch on which the additional railway track would be laid between Mathura and Delhi.

The apex court had earlier passed a slew of directions on the issue of protecting the iconic monument.