The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear the PIL filed by former Rajya Sabha Law maker Subramaniyan Swami. The PIL sought a direction to the centre for declaring the Ram Sethu as a National Heritage Monument.
A bench comprised of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha took note of the BJP leader’s submission that no decision has been made on the issue thus far, and thus, the PIL should be listed for hearing now. Chief Justice of India said, “We will list it after the Constitution bench matters get over.”
On Thursday, the Supreme Court agreed to list the matter after the constitution bench hearing, for seeking National Heritage status for Ram Sethu. The bench of Supreme Court judges, said Dr Swamy that we will be hearing the matter soon, “After the constitution bench. We will list it. See the higher the powers, the higher is the responsibility.”
In January, the court also asked the Central government to appraise it when the process gets culminated. Appearing for the centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the government was already looking into the matter and Dr Swamy could make representations before the concerned authorities.
Swamy claimed that the centre had already accepted the existence of ‘Ram Sethu’ and a meeting was also held in 2017 but nothing had happened afterwards. Prior to this, the court said that they would take up the plea in the second week of February. Dr Swamy claimed that he had already won the first round of litigation, in which the Centre acknowledged Ram Sethu’s existence.
Adam’s Bridge is another name given to Ram Sethu. It is a chain of limestone shoals that connects Pamban Island off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu to Mannar Island off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.
Dr Swamy raised the issue of making Ram Sethu a national monument in his PIL opposing the controversial Sethusamudram Ship Channel project, which was initiated by the UPA-I government. In year 2007, the case reached the Supreme Court, which halted work on the Ram Sethu project.
The Centre later stated that it had considered the project’s social and economic disadvantages. It was willing to explore another route to the shipping channel project that would not harm the Ram Sethu. Also, an affidavit filed by the ministry stated, “that the Government of India intends to explore an alternative to the way of the Sethusamudram Ship Channel project in the interest of the nation without damaging the Ram Sethu,”. The court then ordered the government to submit a new affidavit in this regard. But, some political parties, environmentalists, and Hindu religious groups have voiced opposition to the Sethusamudram shipping channel project.
The project required extensive dredging and the removal of limestone shoals in order to construct an 83-kilometer water channel connecting Mannar and Palk Strait. On November 13, 2019, the Supreme Court granted the government six weeks to clarify its position on the Ram Sethu case. It also gave Dr Swamy the right to go to court if the Centre did not respond.
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