Expressing its displeasure over the unauthorised occupation of the historic Lodhi-era monument "Gumti of Shaikh Ali" for over six decades by the Defence Colony Residents Welfare Association (RWA), the Supreme Court directed it to pay Rs 40 lakh as compensation.
"We think it will be appropriate if compensation of ₹40 lakh is paid by the RWA to the department of archaeology, Delhi government, entrusted with the task of conservation and restoration of the monument," said a two-judge bench of the apex court, led by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and also comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah.
The top court, while refusing to waive the cost, clarified that it was imposed as the RWA occupied the structure in the 1960s and justified its occupation by saying anti-social elements would have damaged it.
The apex court slapped the cost on the RWA after hearing an appeal filed by Rajiv Suri, a resident of Defence Colony, seeking the court's directions to declare the structure as a protected monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958.
Earlier, Suri moved the Delhi High Court, but it refused to pass directions in the case in 2019, forcing him to knock the doors of the Supreme Court for appropriate orders. Suri, in his appeal, filed before the top court, referred to several historical records which said the structure found a mention in a survey of Delhi monuments conducted in 1920 by Maulvi Zafar Hasan, a British era archaeologist.
The top court earlier this year asked the CBI to probe into the circumstances under which the structure came to be occupied by the RWA without authorisation. It posted the matter for further hearing on April 8.
The bench also perused a report filed by Swapna Liddle, who is ex-convener of the Delhi chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). After going through the report, the top court had appointed Liddle to survey and inspect the building and ascertain the damage caused to the monument and the extent of its restoration.
During its previous hearings, the top court had asked the RWA to apprise it on how much cost should be imposed on it for the unauthorised occupation of the monument.
The bench on Thursday directed Delhi's archaeology department to constitute a committee for the restoration of the monument.