Supreme Court seeks report from IIT Roorkee on heritage buildings in Mysuru

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has called for a report from the IIT, Roorkee after findings were given by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage stating that Devaraja Market and Lansdowne building, situated in the city of Mysore, can be preserved due to their immense cultural, historic and architectural values.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Sandeep Mehta said, although, there is one report of INTACH as an expert body yet it would still like to call for one another report from IIT Roorkee.

On a plea by G Satyanarayana alias Gouri Satya, the court previously sought a report from INTACH, which stated, the building were designated as a heritage structure in master plans, signifying its immense importance and placing it under the stringent development controls as the Amba Vilas Palace, also known as the Mysuru Palace. 

The report also stated the structures can be preserved by adopting relatively minimal structural intervention techniques, while retaining the form, character and other intrinsic heritage values associated with it. 

Karnataka government, however, submitted that the State has taken a conscious decision to bring down the structures and rebuild them with the same facade and heritage look. Since the structures are within the state, the government would have the primacy and discretion in these type of matters, it said. 

The bench, however, said, "Prima facie, we are of the view, more particularly, having regard to the report of INTACH that if it is possible to preserve the two structures, as they are, with some repairs/renovations then nothing like that,'' 

The court asked the the director, IIT, Roorkee to constitute an expert committee for the purpose of evaluating the two buildings in question, their current status and to what extent the two buildings can be preserved as heritage structures. 

The court directed for completing the exercise within eight weeks.