Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 12: The Central government on Thursday asked the Supreme Court for an extension till the first week of February so that it could respond to Subramanian Swamy’s petition asking the court to order the government to designate ‘Ram Setu’ as a national historic site.
The government was given time to submit a response to the petition by a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and PS Narasimha, and the subject was scheduled for hearing in the second week of February.
Swamy brought up the issue in front of the bench, claiming that while Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had promised to file a response by December 12, 2022, no affidavit had been submitted as of yet.
The Chief Justice told the SG, who was present in court, “Solicitor, Swamy is saying you have not kept your commitment to file the counter in the Ram Setu matter.”
The Solicitor General said that the matter is being thought over and is currently the subject of discussion. He continued, “The answer will be submitted and will ask the bench to retain the matter for hearing in the first week of February.”
In light of the government’s delay in clarifying its position, Swamy requested the cabinet secretary’s participation as well, but the CJI rejected the request. Since last year, the subject has been postponed numerous times.
ALSO READ: AAP asked to pay Rs 163 crore in 10 days for political advertisements
Earlier, Swamy said that despite the case’s eight-year status, the government had not been able to reply.
In his plea, Swamy had urged the court to pass an order directing the “Union of India along with National Monuments Authority (NMA) to declare Ram Setu as an Ancient Monument of National Importance.”
