The Allahabad high court asked the state government to notify ‘heritage guidelines’ for the entire state including Varanasi in a Public Interest Litigation alleging illegal construction on heritage structures, reported Times of India.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud and Justice Dilip Gupta directed the amicus curiae to inspect the buildings at the ghats of Varanasi to ascertain the representation made by Varanasi Development Authority (VDA) on illegal constructions on ghats to the court.

Though the petitioner said that the illegal constructions around 300 meter perimeter of archeological structures are still rampant despite various orders of courts asking authorities to clear them, VDA contended that it has already issued notices to the buildings and has demolished the buildings found illegal.

The PIL was filed by Kautilya Society and a social activist Vrinda Dar and the court fixed 15 January 2016 as the next date of hearing.