NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Centre on a plea by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy seeking a direction to the government to “expeditiously” decide his representation to declare ‘Ram Setu’ as a national monument.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought a response from the Centre on Swamy’s plea, contending nothing has been done despite the assurance on January 19, 2023 that it was looking into the issue of declaring ‘Ram Setu’ as a national heritage monument.
A fresh plea by Swamy said, “Now it fulfils the criteria of an Ancient Monument; that under Section 3 / 4 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958, the government is duty-bound to declare all the ancient monuments as of national importance and national monuments."
It also stated the Centre is duty-bound also to protect Ram Setu from any form of misuse, pollution or desecration with respect to Section 16 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958.
“It is also important to note that this archaeological site is a matter of faith of people treating Ram-Setu as a pilgrimage, and all these archaeological studies and scientific findings are foundational evidence supplementing the existence of the man-made monument as a pilgrimage for worshipers,” the plea said.
It asked the court to issue a direction to the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, to decide the representation of Swamy in an expeditious manner/time-bound manner in compliance with the order of this court issued on January 19, 2023.
The plea asked the court to issue a direction under Article 142 of the Constitution and do justice and mould the appropriate reliefs that will be in the public interest.
The plea said that millions of citizens of India are travelling every year to Rameswaram, and any pilgrimage of any Hindu to Kashi is not complete unless he or she visits Rameswaram.
“The history of Rama revealed to the world in the form of Ramayana and various historic places are connected with Rama, and they are considered part of the Indian culture and the lifeline of this country,” it said.
The apex court, in its January 19, 2023, order, had said that the Solicitor General states that the process is currently underway in the Ministry of Culture, but if the petitioner would so desire, he may also submit any additional material or communication as he may wish within a period of two weeks.
The court had asked the Centre to decide on the issue and granted Swamy the liberty to move before it again if he was dissatisfied and disposed of his interim application on the issue. Swamy’s fresh plea said no response or decision taken was conveyed either to him or to the apex court till date.
‘Ram Setu’, also known as Adam's bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.
The court fixed the matter for further hearing after four weeks.
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