SC stays order calling Taj a Wakf property

The Supreme court today stayed the controversial order of the UP Sunni Central Wakf Board declaring Taj Mahal as Wakf property with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) contending that the title of the 17th-century monument vested with the Centre.

A bench comprising Justice Ruma Pal, Justice S B Sinha and Justice S H Kapadia issued notices to the Wakf Board, Uttar Pradesh government and others on the ASI’s petition in which it had apprehended that the July 13 order of the board could lead to communal disharmony and law and order problems. The court asked the contesting parties to file counter-affidavits in four weeks.