Ahmedabad: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), responsible for excavating India’s centuries-old secrets, has been fined in a 20-year-old matter by the high court for attempting to bury routine legal facts.The ASI was challenging an order to compensate Dholavira landowners without disclosing to the HC that it had promised an executing court that it would pay the money. The ASI also did not mention that it had received an attachment warrant from the court.The matter relates to land acquisition at the Harappan site of Dholavira in Kutch. In 2002, the ASI decided to buy land beside the heritage site in its mission to develop Dholavira into a tourist hotspot. The ASI fixed 64 paise per square metre compensation in 2005 for 10 affected persons. The landowners, however, demanded Rs 50 per square metre. This set off a legal battle, with a court in Rajkot finally fixing Rs 9.57 compensation per square metre in July 2023.In Nov 2025, 712 days after the Rajkot court’s ruling, the ASI decided to challenge the order. In its application seeking pardon for the delay, the agency blamed bureaucratic processes, including its director general’s decision-making.The landowners, waiting for their dues for two decades, brought to the HC’s notice the legal milestones not disclosed by the ASI after the Rajkot court’s 2023 order. They said they had filed execution applications for the quick release of money by the ASI, and the Rajkot court had issued notices and warnings to the ASI to expedite payment. The ASI then promised the Rajkot court that it would deposit the money by April 21, 2025. When the payment did not materialize, the executing court issued an attachment warrant against the ASI. Instead of depositing the amount, the ASI chose to file an appeal in the HC.In the order, Justice M K Thakker said about the reasons cited for the delay, “This court finds that they are not only insufficient but wholly inadequate and indicative of a negligent and mala fide intent to delay the execution proceedings.”The HC further said, “For the foregoing reasons, and in view of the suppression of material facts regarding the filing of the execution application and the assurances given by the applicant authority, this court is of the opinion that the application deserves to be rejected. Accordingly, the application is rejected with costs of Rs 1,00,000 collectively.”Moreover, the HC ordered the recovery of the fine amount from “the erring officer(s) responsible for such suppression and lapse” within three weeks. The amount was ordered to be remitted to the executing court for disbursal among the original claimants.
