Allahabad HC dismisses PIL to open 20 closed rooms of Taj Mahal

Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to open 20 rooms of the Taj Mahal and setting up a fact finding team to study them.

The PIL filed by Dr Rajneesh Singh was dismissed by Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi.

Referring to a book written by historian P N Oak, the petition claimed that the Taj Mahal was actually Tejomahalay, which was built by Raja Parmardi Dev in 1212 AD. It claimed that there is a Shiva temple behind the closed doors of the 17th century Taj.

The petitioner sought direction to constitute a fact finding committee to study the monument and to open the 20 closed rooms of the Taj. (UNI)