By IANS,
New Delhi : The Supreme Court will Friday hear a petition challenging the Rajasthan High Court’s order declaring as “illegal and void” a 99-year lease agreement for the restoration of Mansagar Lake and Jal Mahal located near Amber Fort in Jaipur.
The high court, while quashing the agreement, directed lease holder Jal Mahal Resorts Private Ltd. to restore the monument and the lake to its original state.
The apex court vacation bench of Justice Deepak Verma and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya directed the listing of the matter Friday after senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam mentioned the matter before the court.
Subramaniam told the court that the high court order amounted to putting the clock back and undoing all the good work done for the restoration of the lake and the monument for making it a tourist destination.
A number of migratory birds had started coming back after the restoration of the lake, he said.
The court was told that the lake had over a period of time become a stinking sewage pond. The restoration project was approved by the central government which had also funded it.
Subramaniam told the court that a number of nationally and internationally renowned experts were involved in the restoration as part of which the central dome of Jal Mahal was redone.
The high court order was passed on a public interest litigation filed by K.P. Sharma.
As counsel for Sharma sought to justify the high court order, the apex court observed: “The work on the restoration of the lake and the Jal Mahal had commenced long back but you came when everything was restored.”
The high court May 17 declared as “illegal and void” the Nov 22, 2005 Mansagar Lake Precinct Lease Agreement by which 100 acres of land was given on a 99-year lease. The court also cancelled another document named as the Jal Mahal Leave and Licence Agreement.