Daijiworld Media Network - Moodbidri (SP)

Moodbidri, Jun 12: The state high court (HC), on Tuesday June 11, granted interim stay against the construction of market near Chowta Palace, a protected monument belonging to the lineage of local kings who had ruled the area in the past. The market is being constructed by the urban local body.

A local, Jason Marshal Norris, had filed public interest litigation, questioning the initiative undertaken by the municipality. The division bench comprising Chief Justice A S Oka and Justice H T Narendra Prasad, which took up the litigation, passed interim stay order. The bench opined that conserving protected monuments is one among the priorities of public interest, before upholding the petitioner's request.

The bench adjourned hearing after asking the government to get the disputed area surveyed through the Archaeological Survey of India and file a report thereof within four weeks.

The petitioner has argued that no construction work can be undertaken within 100 metres of banned area. Likewise if construction has to be undertaken within 200 metres of the protected area, permission of the archaeological department is a must, he has argued. He has pointed that in this particular case, the municipality began working though it does not have the permission of the said department. Therefore he had sought interim stay against continuing with the construction activity.