SC agrees to hear PIL to monitor ASI's excavation for gold

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a PIL seeking court monitoring of the digging being undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India for gold in Daundia Khera village in UP's Unnao district.

A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam, however, refused to give an urgent hearing and asked the petitioner, who mentioned the case before it, to remove the defects in the petition which would be taken up for hearing next week.

The petition was filed by advocate M L Sharma who submitted that court monitoring is required in the case as the valuable resources might "vanish" and pleaded for an urgent hearing.

The bench, however, said that the state government is there to take care of the process and agreed to hear the PIL only after the defects are removed in the petition.

The much hyped gold excavation is being carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) after a seer, Shobhan Sarkar, dreamt that 1,000 tonnes of gold was buried near the fort of Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh in Daundia Khera village.

Sarkar has claimed that treasures are also hidden at many places in UP.
Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh was a martyr of the 1857 revolt.

Sarkar's dream was not taken seriously by the local administration and the state government. However, a Union Minister visited the area and met Sarkar. The minister then directed the ASI to work on it, which began today.