Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 20: Division Bench of State High Court comprising First Puisine Judge Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar and Justice B S Walia today constituted a committee to suggest measures to preserve Mubarak Mandi heritage complex and objects kept there.
The committee is comprised of Senior Advocate B S Slathia and the Deputy Director, Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums Jammu. The DB framed the committee after going through the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Shah Mohammad Choudhary highlighting the importance of preserving art, museum and archives in the State.
It has been pointed out in the PIL that one of the heritage buildings—Mubarak Mandi Complex which housed the Old Secretariat of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and High Court, is in dilapidated condition. Though the building was declared unsafe long ago, the Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museum has not taken proper steps to restore the heritage building, the PIL said.
After hearing Advocate SM Choudhary appearing for the PIL whereas AAG Ajay Sharma and Deputy AG PS Chandel appearing for the State, the Division Bench observed, “this heritage building contains precious collection of Dogra art and miniatures, manuscript of various eras, coins, jewellery, portraits and oil paintings etc”, adding “in all the objects number around 7320 and a reference library having 2600 books is also there. In the adjoining building, the old records of the Board of Judicial Advisors, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir when it was functioning at that building, are still housed and that also need to be preserved”.
“The art collections at the Dogra Art Museum and the court records are of great value and need to be preserved and protected, as is evident from reply to the RTI application which says that except basic preservation method like using of napthlene balls and anti termite treatment, the heritage museum like all other old buildings is suffering from insufficient staff, lack of proper maintenance and funds”, the DB further observed.
The Deputy Director in his RTI reply has stated that rain water enters the heritage building during the rainy season and they are working in an unsafe building, which is a matter of serious concern.
“The PIL focuses on two issues namely preservation of the Art Museum and the heritage building. It seeks to safeguard old record of the courts at various levels. The senior Advocates of this court like D C Raina, B S Salathia and few others stated in unison that the court related old and memorable records should be secured, preserved and may also be kept in the present High Court Museum”, the DB said, adding “they volunteered to assist the court in any manner for safeguarding the heritage building and the objects contained therein”.
After considering these issues and the need to preserve the heritage, art and museum, the DB said, “Senior Advocate B S Slathia, who is the head of the committee, will be at liberty to choose any member of the legal fraternity who may be interested to assist him”, adding “the committee may also suggest measures for improving the security that may be required to effectively manage and avoid the theft or removal of valuable art and artifacts”.
The DB also directed Registry to take photocopy of the petition and its annexures and supply the same to the respondents’ counsel as well as to Senior Advocate B S Salathia and the Deputy Director, along with copy of this order within this week so as to enable them to submit a preliminary report in the week commencing August 22.
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