The national forum for aided institutions employees, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), are contemplating over moving the Supreme Court this week to seek direction for Central and State government to decide on their plea of declaring the Mehrangir bungalow — where Dr Homi Bhabha lived — as a national monument.
The DAE representative Prashant Worlikar said: "Our main objective is to preserve the bungalow which holds great importance to us. The new piece of evidence which is from the BMC which conducted a survey in the year 1915 indicates that the bungalow is over 100 years old and the criteria to declare it as a protected monument is being met with. This has not been considered by the Bombay High Court in totality and the union government has also not taken any decision on our representation, which needs to be done."
The National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) to whom the property was bequeathed by Dr Jamshed Bhabha brother of Dr Homi Bhabha in 2014 auctioned the Mehrangir bungalow for a price of Rs372 crore have negated the claim of DAE employees relying on documents of the State Archaeological and Museums department and Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee which show that the bungalow is not 100 years old and cannot be declared as a national monument.
Worlikar said the petition will be filed in the coming week and an early hearing of the same would be sought by us so that the bungalow is protected. Earlier, the Charity Commissioner has allowed National Centre for Performing Arts, to go ahead with the sale of the bungalow.
Last year, the Bombay High Court had dismissed a petition filed by another DAE employee Ram Dhuri seeking directions to the union government to expeditiously take a decision on declaring the bungalow as a national monument. The court has while dismissing the petition noted the petition was not maintainable.
