“Do not treat it as a building. It is a heritage property. Declare it as a protected monument and maintain it.” This was directed by an upset Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the Punjab government on Tuesday.

Distressed and appalled at the lackadaisical attitude of the Punjab government in disowning the Qila Mubarak, Nabha, and not declaring it a protected monument, the Chief Justice took a dig at the Punjab government today.

“You are under an obligation to declare it a protected monument. You cannot allow a heritage to collapse and wait for funds. You just cannot wait for the building to be demolished. It will be a blot on the government. This is a state property. Why are you feeling shy of declaring it a protected monument ? You are treating it as a building.”

A division bench comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Mahesh Grover said they smell a rat in the Punjab government’s move to lease out the property to a private party for opening up a school.

“What kind of gain do you want to make ? It calls for a CBI investigation to find out as to what is the state gaining by handing it over to a private party rather than declaring its heritage property a protected monument,” the Bench remarked.

The Chief Justice took a strong exception to the stand taken by Punjab wherein it has taken the pretext of non-availability of funds for maintenance of its heritage property. The Punjab government in its report had submitted that it had no funds to maintain the monument.

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