Above: Gwalior Fort/Photo Courtesy:Wikimedia

The Supreme Court bench comprising of Justices Madan B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta on Thursday (January 4) dismissed a petition asking for permission to build a hostel near the protected historical monument Gwalior Fort saying if it allowed this a large number of similar petitions will come and destroy the sanctity of a protected monument.

It was mentioned in the application that the proposed construction of Hostel Building shall be located within 200 to 300 metres from the protected monument Ek Patthar Ki Baori, Gwalior, hence, sanction be granted. Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal granted permission for construction of Double Storied hostel building at a distance of 243 meters from the protected area of monument on following conditions:

1. The licence is not transferable.
2. It shall be valid for one year only commencing from the date of issue of this licence.
3. No building of historical importance which has been in existence for more than 75 years will be demolished
4. If any fragment(s)/sculpture(s)/structure(s) found during excavation, the licence holder should be bound to inform the Archaeological Survey of India
5. Total area of proposed construction should not exceed 33,522 Sq.ft. (16,761 Sq.ft. x 2) as per the approved attached plan.
6. The facade design of the proposed construction, section and elevation (attached herewith) should not be changed in any manner
7. The total height of the proposed Hostel building is restricted upto 09.50 meters
8. The conical and sloppy roofs indicated in the plan looks incongruous with the existing heritage structures and hence it should be flat terraces so that it merges with the surrounding area
9. The document submitted by the school authority regarding the ownership/lease right is not clear. Hence, the required permission should be taken from the relevant department after proving the ownership/lease right of the land.
10. This licence is valid subjected to approval/ NOC for construction from other concerned local authorities/department
11. If any of the above-mentioned conditions is violated the licence will be treated as cancelled

—India Legal Bureau