Supreme Court: MCD, ASI Pulled Up Over Monument Reports

The Supreme Court recently pulled up the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) over what it termed “total callousness” and “suppression of facts” about the condition of several protected monuments in Delhi [Rajeev Suri v. ASI & Ors.]. In an order passed on August 24, a Bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and NK Singh noted that an affidavit filed by the MCD on April 10 had claimed certain structures were free of encroachment and in a satisfactory state of conservation.However, photographs published in the Hindustan Times on August 10 and in the Times of India around July 26 showed a different picture.“We are unable to understand as to how such stand could be taken before this Court by an organisation like the MCD in the present proceedings,” the Court said.It said the affidavit’s claims amounted to suppression of facts on the part of the MCD.“There has been total callousness and rather suppression of facts on behalf of the MCD inasmuch as, the pictures reveal that with regard to certain structures which were referred to in the affidavit filed on behalf of the MCD on 10.04.2026 a categorical stand was taken that the said structures were free of encroachment and in a satisfactory state of conservation,” the Court said.The Court found a similar problem with the ASI. It noted that an affidavit filed by the ASI on April 7, concerning Atgah Khan’s Tomb, Gogabai’s Tomb and Lal Chaubara, was contradicted by the same newspaper photog