Court orders to produce Manmohan Singh’s letter on Jama Majid’s protected status

The Delhi High Court has criticised the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for failing to present a 2004 file regarding then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision not to declare New Delhi’s historic Jama Masjid a “protected monument”.
Hearing a petition seeking the declaration of the Mughal-era Jama Masjid as a protected monument and the removal of encroachments around it, a bench led by Justice Prathiba M Singh noted that, despite a prior order, the ASI had submitted “loose sheets” and incomplete records instead of the full file concerning the mosque’s status.
The ASI had earlier informed the court that in October 2004, the Manmohan Singh government assured the Shahi Imam that Jama Masjid would not be designated as a protected monument. The Centre had also mentioned that the letter was with the Shahi Imam.
If the mosque is declared a protected monument, the ASI will assume management, leading to increased government oversight. While religious functions would likely continue, certain activities may face restrictions.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed by Suhail Ahmed Khan and Ajay Gautam in 2014, questioned why the mosque is not under the ASI’s management.
“In 2004, the issue of notifying the Jama Masjid as a centrally-protected monument was raised. However, former prime minister Manmohan Singh assured the Shahi Imam, vide his October 20, 2004 letter, that the Jama Masjid would not be declared as a centrally-protected monument,” the ASI had said in its affidavit in the court.
In August, the Supreme Court directed the ASI and the Union Ministry of Culture to submit a file containing then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision regarding the Jama Masjid. Expressing displeasure over the ASI’s failure to file the document, the court issued a stern order on Friday, instructing officials to produce it before the next hearing in October.