A PIL was today filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the Centre to protect and maintain over 400 artefacts and articles belonging to Constitution-framer Bhim Rao Ambedkar which are lying in a private museum 'Shantivan' in Maharashtra.
The plea, filed before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw, will come up for hearing on October 29.
The petition said that the concerned department of the museum has written to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) several times seeking funds for maintenance of these objects or requesting ASI to preserve these articles. However, ASI is yet to take any concrete action in protecting these articles.
"It is also relevant to note that while the Minister of Culture and Tourism in 2008 had directed ASI to take action towards preserving these articles, no action has as yet been taken by any of the respondents towards preserving these articles of national importance," the PIL, filed by Mithilesh Kumar Pandey through his advocate Ajit Sharma, said.
Over 400 articles belonging to Ambedkar have been lying at the private museum at Nagpur and they are in stages of spoilage and destruction due to non-availability of adequate funds for their funds, it added.
