New Delhi: Delhi High Court has pulled up Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), MCD and police for failing to check unauthorised construction within the regulated area of the protected tomb of Roshanara, one of the daughters of emperor Shahjahan.
On Sept 9, 2025, the high court passed an interim order directing the SHO of the local police station to ensure that the property owner should not be permitted to carry out further construction.
The court said the unauthorised construction was done despite statutory restrictions and an order restraining it. However, we expect the highest officers of MCD, ASI and Delhi Police to file their respective personal affidavits, thereby disclosing the names of the senior officers who are responsible for… such a serious default on the part of the private respondent in carrying out and continuing the unauthorised construction,” a bench of acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma said in a recent order. It directed the MCD commissioner, special CP of Delhi Police and the ASI director to file affidavits disclosing the names of officials who had ignored the unauthorised construction. “The respondents, in our opinion, are free to take such steps in accordance with the law that are permissible and provided…. The court was hearing a plea highlighting unauthorised construction on the property in Shakti Nagar. A police complaint was lodged. However, this order was not adhered to.