Today, On 8th April, The Supreme Court directed the Centre and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to take immediate action to remove encroachments near the historic ‘Gumti of Shaikh Ali’. The court emphasized the need to protect heritage sites from illegal occupation. Authorities have been asked to submit a compliance report within a stipulated timeframe. The move comes amid growing concerns over urban encroachments on protected monuments.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court instructed the Centre and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to clear all encroachments surrounding the Lodhi-era monument known as the “Gumti of Shaikh Ali.”
Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah directed the MCD to vacate its engineering department office located within the monument’s premises and transfer it to the Land and Development Office within two weeks.
The court also mandated the relevant deputy commissioners of police to monitor the area daily to ensure compliance with this order.
The court noted that the Defence Colony Resident Welfare Association (RWA), which was ordered to pay Rs.40 lakh in compensation for its unauthorized occupation of the monument, had not yet made the payment and was given until May 14 to comply.
On March 25, the Supreme Court had instructed the resident association to pay for its over sixty years of illegal occupation. The bench also directed Delhi’s archaeology department to form a committee for the monument’s restoration, ensuring a “peaceful” transfer of the site’s possession to the Land and Development Office.
The court reviewed a report by Swapna Liddle, former convener of the Delhi chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, who was appointed to assess the monument’s condition and determine the extent of required restoration.
In November 2024, the court criticized the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for failing to protect the monument, especially since the CBI had highlighted that the RWA was using the 15th-century structure as its office.
Expressing frustration over the ASI’s inaction, the bench remarked,
“What kind of authority are you (ASI)? What is your mandate? You have gone back from your mandate of protecting the ancient structures. We are perturbed by your inaction.”
The court also admonished the RWA for occupying the tomb since the 1960s and for trying to justify its occupation by claiming it was necessary to prevent damage from anti-social elements.
The case arose from a petition by Rajiv Suri, a Defence Colony resident, who sought court intervention to classify the structure as a protected monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958.
He contested a 2019 Delhi High Court ruling that had refused to grant such directions.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court directed the CBI to investigate how the RWA came to occupy the structure and report back. The agency reported multiple alterations made by the RWA, including the installation of a false ceiling.
It was also revealed that in 2004, the ASI began the process of designating the tomb as a protected monument, but delayed action due to objections from the residents’ body.
Furthermore, in 2008, the Centre abandoned plans to declare it a protected structure. Suri’s petition referenced several historical documents, noting that the monument was included in a survey of Delhi’s monuments conducted in 1920 by Maulvi Zafar Hasan, a British-era archaeologist.