In response to an appeal filed in Delhi’s Saket District Court seeking the restoration of 27 temples allegedly destroyed to build the Qutub Minar complex, the Archaeological Survey of India stated on Tuesday that the monument’s current status cannot be changed.

While admitting that there are a number of sculptures within the Qutab Minar Complex, the statutory body stated in the Livelaw report that the Qutub Minar monument has been a protected monument since 1914 under Section 3(3) of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904 and is being maintained ‘in-situ’ in the same condition.

Furthermore, there is no provision in the AMASR Act of 1958 that allows worship to begin at any living monument.

Thus, no decree of permanent injunction as requested by the Plaintiffs can be issued because, according to the provisions of the AMASR Act, 1958 and Rules, 1959, changing and altering the existing structure is not permitted, according to the report.

According to the ASI, architectural elements and images of Hindu and Jain deities were reused in the Qutab complex’s construction.