The Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the State not to demolish until further orders the 83-year-old ‘Asiatic building’ on K.G. Road that till recently housed the Janata Bazaar.
A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice L. Narayana Swamy and Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar passed the interim order while hearing a PIL petition filed in September 2018 by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Bengaluru, a registered society working for preservation of India’s natural heritage.
The INTACH has sought a direction from the court to declare the structure as a ‘heritage building’ while pointing out that it is one of the pre-independence buildings in the city. It has been contended in the petition that classifying this building as ‘heritage building’ in the draft revised master plan-2031 shows its historical and aesthetic significance while questioning the correctness of the move to demolish it in the guise of its structural safety.
