The Supreme Court issued a notice on Thursday (January 30, 2020) to the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) on a plea seeking appropriate directions for the online sale of tickets for the viewing of Taj Mahal at night.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde issued a notice to ASI seeking its response in the matter.
At present, the ticket for seeing Taj Mahal during the night can only be purchased from the booking counter located at the office of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), Agra circle in Uttar Pradesh between office hours.
The Taj Mahal is one of the major tourist attractions of the country. According to the data provided by the Culture Ministry, nearly 6.9 million people visited the Taj Mahal in 2018-19, up an impressive 6 per cent from the previous year when the number stood at 6.4 million. This is a steady increase over the last three years as 6.08 million visitors came to the Taj Mahal in 2016-17. The monument earned almost Rs. 78 crores in ticket sales in 2018-19. This monument ran into some controversy in 2017 being under attack from certain BJP leaders before UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath intervened to say Taj Mahal was UPs pride.
Author: Shubham Jindal
