SC: Plea To Declare Ram Setu National Heritage On July 26

The Supreme Court on Wednesday posted for hearing on July 26 a plea of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy seeking direction to the Centre to declare ‘Ram Setu’ as a national heritage monument.

A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana said that it would hear the plea on July 26 after Swamy sought an early hearing of the case.
After Swamy submitted that the issue is pending for a long time and an urgent hearing is required, the bench listed the matter for hearing on July 26.

The bench also enquired about the stand of the government of India on the said issue. Swamy said that the government has filed an affidavit on the issue.

In his plea, Swamy urged the apex court to pass an order and direct the “Union of India along with National Monuments Authority (NMA) to declare Ram Setu as an Ancient Monument of National Importance.”

He has also urged the top court to pass an order and direct the “Union of India to engage Geological Survey of India and Archeological Survey of India to conduct a detailed survey in respect to Ram Setu as an Ancient Monument of National Importance.”

Swamy said that he has already won the first round of the litigation in which the Centre has accepted the existence of ‘Ram Setu’ and added that the concerned union minister had called a meeting in 2017 to consider his demand to declare the Setu as a national heritage monument but subsequently nothing happened.

Ram Setu is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. (ANI)