MMRCL to hold off on construction till next SC hearing

Earlier this week, a banner was put up just outside the Wadiaji Atash Behram which read, 'Unfortunately, we Parsis are in minority. Not in vote bank. So we get a raw deal for our peace of centuries'.

The Parsi community's efforts to save the Anjuman and Wadiaji Atash Behrams continued on Friday, at the first hearing of the special leave petition they filed at the Supreme Court. The arguments are set to continue at the next hearing Monday, December 10. Until then, the MMRCL's legal counsel said they would hold off on the tunnelling work.

After failing to get any relief from the Bombay High Court, which allowed MMRCL to continue construction of the tunnel under the two Atash Behrams, the Parsi community's legal team approached SC. The team, which includes lawyers Mukul Rohatgi and Zerick Dastur, continued to seek realignment of the tunnel.

While the thrust of the arguments made in the HC were on the spiritual beliefs of Zoroastrianism, on Friday, the Parsi community's legal counsel focused more on the structural argument. Jamshed Sukhadwalla, chief petitioner in the case said the argument focused on the eight alternative station configurations given by the international expert representing the Parsi community.

He added that the document prepared by the Parsi community's technical expert, Nicola Della Valle, a mining engineer and tunneling expert, has also been submitted to SC. Despite repeated attempts, MMRCL was unavailable for comment.

Meanwhile, members of the community have been vocal about their disappointment. Earlier this week, a banner was put up outside the Wadiaji Atash Behram which read, 'Unfortunately, we Parsis are in minority. Not in vote bank. So we get a raw deal for our peace of centuries'.

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