3 min readUpdated: Sep 18, 2026 04:16 PM IST
A clock tower planned in a crowded Firozabad market has run into an unexpected question from the Allahabad High Court: what is the point of building one when people can check the time on their phones and wristwatches?
A division bench of Justices JJ Munir and Indrajeet Shukla, in its order on Tuesday, observed that they served a “great purpose… when they were built and for the generations who were used to them”.
“… But to think [and] act upon antiquated technology in the present time is not a policy decision. It is an irrationality, the product of arbitrariness of the highest order,” it observed.
It further observed that clock towers have no relevance in the present day, “where every man does not only have a wrist watch, but has international time at his command in his mobile phone”.
“One could think that there was some sense to it if there was sufficient space and the clock tower were a mere decorative piece and monumental architecture,” the bench added, issuing notices to the Firozabad Municipal Corporation and other senior officers to file a response with a justification for establishing the tower.
The notices were issued on a petition filed by local trader Gaurav Goyal, who has a shop opposite the proposed site in Purani Mandi, Sadar Bazar. Goyal claimed that the construction would ruin his business.
The Municipal Corporation, however, told the court that the land had been donated to the department specifically for construction of a clock tower.
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‘Waking up after 55 years’
The bench noted that the land was donated by Ramswaroop Govind Ram Goyal “way back in 1970” for the clock tower. “… But the Nagar Nigam, Firozabad, has woken from slumber after 55 years, surpassing the achievement of Rip Van Winkle, and decided suddenly to give effect to the wishes of Goyal…,” it stated.
The court also pointed out that the donated land now lies in a busy market with no parking space and that the petitioner, who owns a shop opposite it, has said the construction would ruin his business.
“We do not wish to say that the land donated by Goyal should not be utilised for a public purpose. But on the analogy of the doctrine of cy-près relating to the law of trusts, the land can be utilised for any contemporary public purpose, such which the respondent Nagar Nigam, Firozabad, considers appropriate… We do not wish to dictate [their] choices… as that is… a policy matter,” the court stated in the order.
Construction halted
The petitioner’s counsel, Vijay Bahadur Vishwakarma, told The Indian Express that the court has issued notice to the Principal Secretary, Urban Development Department, Municipal Corporation, Firozabad; Municipal Commissioner; District Magistrate of Firozabad; and Director, Local Bodies, Uttar Pradesh; and a private firm. The court has directed them all to file a counter affidavit in two weeks.
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Listing the matter for September 30, the court directed the authorities that they be restrained from constructing the tower till the next hearing.
