IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

     I.A. No.474 IN WRIT PETITION (C) NO.13381/1984

M.C. Mehta                             Petitioner(s)

Versus

Union of India & Ors.                  Respondent(s)

O  R  D  E  R

The story of an emperor’s extraordinary love for his  

wife that led to its creation and its magnificent beauty  

attracts  around  1.4  million  visitors  to  the  Taj  Mahal  

annually,  of  which  20-25%  are  foreigners  and  the  rest  

Indian.  The  peak  period  for  the  visitors  is  from  mid-

December to mid- January and on December 27, 2009 the number  

of people visiting Taj Mahal was thirty six thousand six  

hundred and seventy eight (36, 678).

There are three points of entry into the premises of  

the Taj Mahal complex; one on the western side  through the  

Western Gate, the other on

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the eastern side through the Eastern Gate and the third on  

the southern side through the Southern Gate. Sixty five per  

cent (65%) of the visitors, almost all Indians, come through  

the Western Gates. Thirty per cent (30%) of the visitors,  

that include most of the foreigners, use the Eastern Gate  

around  which  most  of  the  big  and  expensive  hotels  are  

located and very few people [no more than five per cent  

(5%)] use the Southern Gate on the side of the crowded,  

medieval part of the town.        

On a week day the number of visitors through the  

Western Gate is calculated at six thousand nine hundred and  

thirty  (6,930)  and  on  the  weekends  twelve  thousand  two  

hundred  and  fifty  (12,250).  Through  the  Easter  Gate  the  

number for the weekdays and the weekends are two thousand  

eight  hundred  fifteen  [2815  (1600  Indians  &  1215  

foreigners)] and four thousand (4000) respectively. It may  

be  added  here  that  these  numbers  do  not  include  young  

persons below the age of fifteen years as they are allowed  

entry without tickets.

At  present  tickets  for  entry  into  the  Taj  Mahal  

complex can be purchased only at the three points of entry.  

The tickets are for the whole day, that is to say a ticket  

holder can enter into the monument complex and spend the  

rest of the day there till the closure time.  

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Each person entering into the Taj Mahal complex is  

subjected  to  security  clearance  that  includes  passing  

through a metal detector door. There are four metal detector  

doors on the Western Gate and three on the Eastern Gate. The  

CISF personnel who conduct the frisking and body-search are  

able to clear 3 to 4 persons in a minute. As a result, on  

the Western Gate there are normally two queues of 300 metres  

each  with  around  twenty  four  hundred  (2400)  people  in  

queues. The waiting time for security clearance for every  

visitor is two and a half to three hours. On the Eastern  

Gate there are normally two queues of 120 metres each with  

nine hundred and sixty (960) people in the queues and the  

waiting time on this side is approximately one and a half to  

two hours. The areas where the queues are formed are open to  

sky  and  there  are  no  facilities  worth  the  name  for  the  

visitors waiting in queues.  

A  visitor  to  the  Taj  Mahal  is  thus  put  under  

considerable strain that may be avoided and the load of the  

visitors also has an adverse impact on the monument.  

In this background the Archeological Survey of India  

(“ASI” hereinafter) has approached the court with a number  

of  proposals  aimed  at  upgrading  the  facilities  and  

conveniences for the visitors and

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regulating their entry into the Taj Mahal complex aimed at  

vastly improving and enriching the experience of visiting  

the  Taj  Mahal  without  in  any  way  affecting  the  solemn  

grandeur  of  one  of  the  world’s  wonders  of  the  medieval  

times.  On  January  11,  2010  the  Director,  ASI  made  a  

presentation before us of a project prepared by ‘The Taj  

Mahal Conservation Collaborative’. It was proposed that the  

ticket for entry into the Taj Mahal complex would no longer  

be for the whole day but would be for limited hours. Also,  

the  entry  ticket  will  be  available  all  over  the  country  

through many different outlets and will also be available  

online. This would indeed be of great convenience to the  

visitors but would also lead to considerable increase in the  

number of visitors. The main proposals, therefore, deal with  

the  management  of  visitors  at  the  two  gates.  The  main  

proposals consist of constructing two Visitors’ Centres, one  

at the Western Gate and the other at the Eastern Gate and  

setting up of two Site Interpretation Centres, both inside  

the Taj Mahal complex, one on the western side and the other  

on the eastern side.

Visitors Centres:

The Visitors’ Centre on the western side is proposed  

to be constructed at the site of ITDC restaurant building.  

It is a non-historic structure

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and it would be demolished for construction of the Visitors’  

Centre. The ASI would compensate the ITDC by allowing it to  

run  the  restaurant  in  the  Western  Gate  Visitors’  Centre  

directly but not by outsourcing. The Director, ASI informed  

us  that  a  meeting  in  that  connection  was  held  with  the  

Secretary, tourism who was agreeable to the proposal. The  

construction of the western Visitors’ Centre would require,  

apart from demolishing the ITDC restaurant building, felling  

down of seven trees. These trees are thirty to sixty years  

old and their positions are indicated in the project report.  

For  felling  down  those  seven  trees,  the  ASI  will  plant  

thirty six new trees at the points indicated in the project  

repost. There will also be the need for some diversion of  

road for easy access to the Visitors’ Centre.

The Visitors’ Centre on the eastern side is proposed  

to be located at the site of the building of the Directorate  

of Horticulture, located near the Eastern Gate. The ASI will  

relocate these offices at some other place(s) in Agra. The  

construction  of  the  Eastern  Gate  Visitors’  Centre  would  

require  removal  of  the  building  of  the  Directorate  of  

Horticulture and felling down of seven trees. These trees  

are forty to eighty  years old and  their positions were

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shown in the presentation. The ASI would make compensatory  

plantation  of  16  trees  at  the  points  indicated  in  the  

presentation. The construction of the Visitors’ Centre would  

need  some  diversion  of  road  and  laying  out  of  some  new  

road(s).   

The Director presented before us the building plan  

and the lay out of the Visitors’ Centres on both sides. The  

structures would be six feet below the ground and only seven  

feet above the ground. We were told by the Director that  

“the Visitors’ Centres are folded within the landscape with  

the minimum impact on the historic sites”. In other words,  

the  two  buildings  will  be  barely  visible,  camouflaged  by  

landscaping.  

Each  Visitors’  Centre  shall  have  twenty  eight  

thousand five hundred (28, 500) square feet of holding area  

and shall provide accommodation for:  

1. purchase of entry tickets with a covered queuing area, 2. Covered area for security queuing, 3. Ten metal detector doors for security checks,  4. A luggage room,  5. An information area,  6. Waiting room for photographers/guides,  7. Waiting room for security staff,  8. Drinking water fountains,  9. Ladies and gents toilets.  

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Apart from the covered area there would be a large  

open-to-sky courtyard (17meters x 17meters) leading to the  

entrance to the Taj Mahal complex.

We were shown how the structure would look from the  

above.  In  the  presentation  it  was  shown  as  manicured  

lawn/area open-to-sky. We are conscious that the plan is at  

a very preliminary stage but we are constrained to observe  

that though appearing as a nice lawn with some good looking  

trees, the area seems to have a modern look and does not  

seem to have the same character as the gardens inside the  

Taj  Mahal  complex  or  a  typical  Mughal  garden.  It  needs  

hardly  be  stated  that  even  lawns  and  open  areas  have  

different characters and can reflect different cultures and  

different periods of time. We are sure while finalising the  

plan the ASI shall ensure that the area over the buildings  

of the Visitors’ Centres has, as much as possible, the same  

character as the gardens inside the Taj Mahal complex and it  

melts into the monument of which it would serve as the entry  

point.

Site Interpretation:

Apart  from  the  two  Visitors’  Centres  at  the  two  

gates, there is the proposal to set up Site Interpretation  

Centres,  one each on the western and

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eastern  sides.  On  the  western  side,  the  Interpretation  

Centre is proposed to be located in the Taj Garden (nursery)  

and on the eastern side in the History Conservation Centre  

(gaushala). The Site Interpretation Centres would give to  

those  visitors,  who  care  to  go  to  them,  a  historical  

introduction  to  the  monument  through  audio  visual  

programmes.  We  were  informed  that  the  equipments  and  

appliances for the Site Interpretation Centres will be set  

up  in  the  existing  structures,  without  in  any  manner  

degrading or even disturbing them. We could see that Mr.  

Krishan Mahajan, learned amicus curiae and the other lawyers  

appearing  for  the  different  sides  were  somewhat  

uncomfortable  with  the  idea  of  setting  up  the  Site  

Interpretation Centres inside the structures within the Taj  

complex. We too have reservations about this proposal. The  

idea  of  installing  modern  electronic  equipments  inside  

structures built during 1632 to 1653 AD appears more than a  

little incongruous. An audio-visual historical introduction  

to the monument is undoubtedly a good idea but the ASI must  

find some space for it outside the Taj complex.  

On a careful consideration of the matter and having  

regard to the present problems and concerns which are indeed  

very realistic we,  in principle, approve   the  proposal  

for  construction  of  two

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Visitors’ Centres, one on the western side and the other on  

the eastern side at the sites indicated in the presentation.  

However, the actual construction of the Centres should start  

only after the final plans are presented and approved by  

this Court.    

......................J.    [S.H. KAPADIA]

......................J.   [AFTAB ALAM]

New Delhi, January 18, 2010.