Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 27: Division Bench of State High Court comprising Chief Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Justice Sanjeev Kumar today sought clear timelines for complete restoration of historic Mubarak Mandi complex.
The direction to the respondents in this regard was issued in a Public Interest Litigation highlighting the importance of preserving art, museum and archives in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
After hearing Advocates GS Thakur and Pawan Dev Singh for the PIL whereas Senior AAG Seema Shekhar for the State and ASGI Sindu Sharma for the Union of India, the DB directed, “clear timelines, both for the planning stage and the execution stage, shall be furnished to this court so that we were in a position to know as to exactly when the entire work of restoration of Mubarak Mandi complex would be completed in all respects”.
“The counsel appearing for the Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society requests for some more time, inasmuch as the meeting of the Society was held on 22.12.2017, where it has been indicated that further inputs are required before the timelines are presented before this court”, the DB observed.
“Insofar as the projects, which have been given to the Archeological Survey of India are concerned, Sindhu Sharma, appearing on behalf of the ASI, submits that the work presently undertaken by them would be completed by the end of October 2018”, the DB further observed.
The DB said, “the work that had been handed over to the Archeological Survey of India does not cover the entire Mubarak Mandi complex that is why we had asked the Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society to indicate the time it would take for planning and execution of the entire work”.
Accordingly, DB granted final opportunity to the respondents to submit their response on the clear timelines within five weeks. The DB made it clear that no further time shall be granted.