A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Wakf Board, which has claimed ownership of the Taj Mahal, to show papers signed by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan giving them the control of the property.
According to the Hindustan Times, the apex court has given the board a week to produce documents with the signatures of the emperor who died in 1666.
“Who in India will believe it belongs to the wakf board? These kind of issues must not waste the time of the Supreme Court,” a bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra told the board. “How did he (Shah Jahan) sign the wakfnama? He was in jail and used to view the monument while in custody,” the country’s top judge said.
“Show us the signature”, the CJI said after the Board’s counsel sought more time.
The 17th-century monument built by the Mughals came to be vested with the government of India after Independence and is being managed by the Archeological Survey of India, the bench comprising Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud told the board’s counsel.
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