SC rejects plea to open 22 rooms in Taj Mahal for investigation

Rajneesh Singh, who claimed to be the media in charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Ayodhya unit, filed this petition, asking the government to form a fact-finding committee and search for important historical evidence.

Image Credit: ANI

New Delhi: Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking the opening of 22 rooms in the Taj Mahal to investigate the monument's history on Friday. A bench of Justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh dismissed the plea, citing it as a "public interest litigation." Rejecting the appeal filed against the Allahabad High Court's order, the bench said, "The High Court was not in error in dismissing the petition, which is more of a publicity interest litigation. Dismissed." This petition has been filed by Rajneesh Singh, who claimed to be the media in charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Ayodhya unit and asked the government to form a fact-finding committee and search for important historical evidence such as idols and inscriptions believed to be hidden inside the Taj Mahal on the orders of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

On May 12, the High Court dismissed his appeal. He had claimed before the High Court that several Hindu right-wing outfits had previously claimed that the Mughal-era mausoleum was a Lord Shiva temple known as 'Tejo Mahalaya,' a theory that was supported by many historians as well. He claimed that there are 22 rooms permanently locked in the upper and lower portions of the Taj Mahal's four-story building and that historians such as PN Oak and many Hindu worshippers believe those rooms contain a Shiva temple.