New Delhi, Feb. Feb 3 (IANS) The Supreme Court Tuesday said that it was the constitutional mandate of the government to maintain and preserve the country's heritage and culture as it asked the government to undertake the security and maintenance of historic artefacts by technically trained people.
"The challenges pointed out by the (authorities), who are running and managing museums, that there are space constraints, manpower shortage and lack of other resources need to be looked into by the ministry of culture and other concerned authorities and appropriate monitoring mechanism needs to be put in place" said a bench of Justice T.S.Thakur and Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel in their judgment.
Justice Goel, pronouncing the judgment said: "Requisite funds have to be allocated so as to ensure safe keeping of the valuable artefacts. It can hardly be gainsaid that preservation of rich heritage and culture of the country is a constitutional mandate."
Accepting the assurance given by the government and other authorities, the court felt that it was not be "necessary to give any specific direction at this stage".
Saying that there was no "reason to doubt the stand of the central government and the other respondents that all necessary steps will be taken and reviewed from time to time", the court said that it "expects that the secretary, ministry of culture will review the matter and take such necessary steps as may be identified within one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this order".
Thereafter, the court said "review meetings may be held at least once in every six months to consider further course of action. If any grievance survives, it will be open to any aggrieved person to take legal remedies in accordance with law".
The court said while disposing of a PIL seeking the protection of historical objects preserved at different places in the country particularly in various museums.
The PIL petitioner Subhas Datta had also sought direction for adequate security arrangements and also proper investigation into the incidents of theft and damage to several historical objects. The PIL had also sought the making an inventory of available historical articles for future.
Datta moved the apex court in 2004 in the wake of the reports of the theft of historical artefacts of Rabindra Nath Tagore, kept in the Visva-Bharati University museum at Santiniketan. The petitioner had also made reference to the stealing of golden coins from the Asiatic Society of Calcutta in 1990, the theft from the Nandan Art Gallery in 1984 and the incidents of thefts in Victoria Memorial in Kolkata.
National Film Awards 2023: The 69th National Film Awards was organized on 17th October at Vigyan
The heat can show sharp frowns this year. In March itself, many states across the country are exp
I get along with Indians really well: Maxwell
Sydney, March 22 (IANS) Australia's explosive batsman Glenn Maxwell on Sunday said the cash-ric
NCC Displays Unity in Diversity: Modi
New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) The National Cadet Corps (NCC) was a "mini India" and it displays the
Understand how Turkey is becoming an arena in the Iran-Israel war
The proxy war between Israel and Iran, which has been going on for years, is now coming out in th
America: Trump was taken to White House bunker amid violent demonstrations
The United States has reached the White House for violent protests against the assassination of b
Flood of dengue patients: Platelets start depleting suddenly; A few hours of delay can happen
Dengue cases are increasing. You must be wondering where, when, and how… we have not heard
There is fierce protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) in Assam. The central
On Friday, NSA Ajit Doval told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that the army should be immediate
The outcry caused by the second wave of Corona in the country is now slowly coming to an end. Cor
