Construction cannot happen near protected sites without ASI's permission: Karnataka HC

Indian Express

a day ago

The Karnataka High Court ruled Monday that construction activities cannot be carried out near protected sites within a particular radius without the permission of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as prescribed by the law.
The order was passed by Justice M Nagaprasanna in response to a petition filed by a resident of Mangalore.
The Mangalore resident had come into possession of a property after a partition suit in 1993.
After subsequent challenges and appeals to the same, he was allotted a share of 8.8 cents of land in the Thota village of the Mangalore taluk.
In 2023, the City Corporation granted permission to construct a house with an approved plan.
After the construction reached a certain stage, ASI issued a stop notice on the grounds that the construction was within 150 metres of the Mangala Devi Temple, a protected monument.
The resident approached the High Court with the petition after his representation for a no-objection certificate (NOC) was denied.
The court stated in its order, 'It is to be noticed that framers of the Constitution were conscious of the need to shield the monuments and places of historic importance from spoliation and disfigurement… It is the obligation of the State to protect every monument of historic interest.'
The petitioner's counsel stated that there was no impediment in granting the NOC as the construction was in the regulated area rather than at a distance where construction was prohibited.
He stated that, as per images from Google Earth, it was at a distance of 151 metres from the temple.
It was also submitted that the ASI estimate of 64 metres using Google Earth was erroneous, and the petitioner was doing a renovation that was permitted under the law (by bringing down and rebuilding an older construction).
The State counsel argued that the constructed property was indeed at a distance of 64 metres where construction is prohibited.
The counsel also said that the construction done so far should not have been sanctioned without an NOC from ASI.
The bench also did not accept the claim of 151 metres distance, and said, 'It is deliberately shot from a different angle and enlarged so that the distance would change. The respondents (ASI) have placed a Google Earth image taken by them, which clearly depicts that the property which is being constructed is within 64 metres of the protected monument…. The statute clearly bars any kind of new construction, but permits only repair and minor renovation.'
Apart from directing the petitioner not to go ahead with the construction, the court also ordered a departmental inquiry against the erring officers who granted permission for the construction contrary to the law.