Only photographers with ASI licence to operate at Konark Sun Temple: Orissa HC
Photographers having valid licences from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) are allowed to conduct photography business on the precincts of the Sun Temple in Odisha’s Puri district.
A division bench of the Orissa High Court issued a ruling in this regard today.
The division bench of Chief Justice Chakradhar Sharan Singh and Justice Savitri Ratho upheld the verdict of the single-judge HC bench that had ruled that apart from the tourists, the photographers who have obtained valid licences from the ASI can enter the 13th century shrine.
A group of 154 photographers had filed a petition in the HC while challenging the January 5, 2022 verdict of the single-judge bench.
These photographers did not have the minimum qualification of matriculation, one of the criteria set by the ASI to issue licence for photography on the premises of the Sun Temple, a UNESCO world heritage site.
The petitioners had informed the HC that they have been conducting photography on the Sun Temple premises for last several decades. They had urged the court to direct the ASI to consider a one-time exception to them with regard to the criterion of matriculation as the minimum qualification for obtaining valid licence.
In its affidavit, the ASI told the court that the one-time exception can not be provided to the 154 photographers as the central agency has fixed the minimum qualification criteria as part of a uniform policy framed for the purpose of regulating photographers operating at the monuments throughout the country.
Notably, the ASI has issued licence to 10 photographers to conduct photography business on the premises of the Sun Temple.
These 10 photographers had filed a petition in the HC in 2015 with the grievance that unchecked photography at the Sun Temple was affecting their livelihood.
Disposing of the petition on January 5, 2022, the single-judge bench of the HC had ruled that only photographers having valid licence from the ASI are allowed to operate at the 13th century shrine.
source:sambadenglish.com
