Lawyers of the Hindu plaintiffs and the Archaeological Survey of India have asked a court here to impose heavy costs on Kunwar Mahender Dhwaj Pratap Singh, who claimed that the Qutub Minar was built on land that belonged to him, for wasting the precious time of the court. Additional District Judge Dinesh Kumar, who heard the application, will pronounce the order on September 17.
Mr. Singh, who claimed to be a descendent of the royal Beswan family, had sought legal rights on the land where the Qutub Minar complex exists. He had approached the Saket court after it had finished hearing of a plea seeking the restoration of 27 Hindu and Jain temples at the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque inside the ASI protected monument.
The main suit was filed on behalf of Jain deity Tirthankar Lord Rishabh Dev and Hindu deity Lord Vishnu (through their next of friends).
“Because the monument was built of his land, he must be made a party in the suit,” the applicant had told the court. He also claimed in the petition that he owned land in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and other areas which the government had occupied without his consent.
ASI lawyer Subhash C. Gupta maintained that the applicant had no grounds to become a part of the main suit and told the court that he just woke up one day and decided to claim the rights on land that is spread in so many States.
“Sir, this man is claiming that he owns half of Delhi, including the court premises where you we are standing right now,” the ASI lawyer said
Amita Sachdeva, the lawyer representing the Hindu plaintiffs in the court, said, “He is not interested in any kind of relief from the court. This petition is nothing more than a publicity stunt and should be dismissed with heavy costs.”
