Supreme Court gives govt homework on Ram Sethu
Supreme Court asks Centre to explore possibility of ASI study to find out if it can be declared national monument.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: In a setback for the DMK���s attempts to get a speedy judicial sanction for the Sethusamudram project, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to explore the possibility of conducting an archaeological study to find out whether Ram Sethu could be declared a national monument.
The order virtually threw open a widow for a new alignment for the proposed corridor���a demand that is being put forward by those opposing the present alignment.
The Centre has been maintaining that the most suitable route to execute the project was alignment No. 6 which passes through the Ram Sethu. However, in its fresh affidavit, the government has said that since no study was conducted on Ram Sethu, it cannot be said that whether the structure was man-made or natural.
This puts the Centre in a bind as the issue had returned to its desk. The direction from the apex court will complicate matters for the UPA government and the DMK.
���There is a specific direction of the Madras High Court that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) should carry investigations whether Ram Sethu is an ancient monument or not,��� a bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice RV Raveendran and Justice JM Panchal said. The court said the petitioners opposing the project have put serious arguments for conducting the ASI probe and diverting the project to other alignments.
���You (Centre) also explore the possibility of carrying out the project through any other channels (alignments),��� the bench said. The court said that the government consider these two aspects as directed by the HC on June 19 last year. It then posted the mater for further hearing on July 22.
The petitioners opposing the project had picked up the Centre���s fresh affidavit to push for a detailed archeological study to arrive at a conclusion whether Ram Sethu is man-made or natural. Without such a study, the Ram Sethu cannot be destroyed for the sake of the project, said senior counsel KK Venugopal, who was appearing for AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, said.
With the court���s interim order restraining any dredging on Ram Sethu till further orders continuing to operate, the long adjournment���the next hearing is slated for July 22���and the suggestion for ASI study would only delay the project further.
Senior counsels K Parasaran, Soli Sorabjee, CS Vaidyanathan, Sriram Panchu and M Krishnanmani, who appeared for separate sets of petitioners, had argued on the religious significance of the Ram Sethu for the Hindus. They had contended that allowing any dredging activity would lead to another Babri Masjid-type conflict.
The order virtually threw open a widow for a new alignment for the proposed corridor���a demand that is being put forward by those opposing the present alignment.
The Centre has been maintaining that the most suitable route to execute the project was alignment No. 6 which passes through the Ram Sethu. However, in its fresh affidavit, the government has said that since no study was conducted on Ram Sethu, it cannot be said that whether the structure was man-made or natural.
This puts the Centre in a bind as the issue had returned to its desk. The direction from the apex court will complicate matters for the UPA government and the DMK.
���There is a specific direction of the Madras High Court that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) should carry investigations whether Ram Sethu is an ancient monument or not,��� a bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice RV Raveendran and Justice JM Panchal said. The court said the petitioners opposing the project have put serious arguments for conducting the ASI probe and diverting the project to other alignments.
���You (Centre) also explore the possibility of carrying out the project through any other channels (alignments),��� the bench said. The court said that the government consider these two aspects as directed by the HC on June 19 last year. It then posted the mater for further hearing on July 22.
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The petitioners opposing the project had picked up the Centre���s fresh affidavit to push for a detailed archeological study to arrive at a conclusion whether Ram Sethu is man-made or natural. Without such a study, the Ram Sethu cannot be destroyed for the sake of the project, said senior counsel KK Venugopal, who was appearing for AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, said.
With the court���s interim order restraining any dredging on Ram Sethu till further orders continuing to operate, the long adjournment���the next hearing is slated for July 22���and the suggestion for ASI study would only delay the project further.
Senior counsels K Parasaran, Soli Sorabjee, CS Vaidyanathan, Sriram Panchu and M Krishnanmani, who appeared for separate sets of petitioners, had argued on the religious significance of the Ram Sethu for the Hindus. They had contended that allowing any dredging activity would lead to another Babri Masjid-type conflict.
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