MEHTA M. C. Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The story of an emperor's extraordinary love for his wife that led to its creation and its magnificent beauty attracts around 1.4 million visitors to the Taj Mahal annually, of which 20-25% are foreigners and the rest Indian. The peak period for the visitors is from mid- December to mid- January and on December 27, 2009 the number of people visiting Taj Mahal was thirty six thousand six hundred and seventy eight (36, 678).

(2.) There are three points of entry into the premises of the Taj Mahal complex; one on the western side through the Western Gate, the other on the eastern side through the Eastern Gate and the third on the southern side through the Southern Gate. Sixty five per cent (65%) of the visitors, almost all Indians, come through the Western Gates. Thirty per cent (30%) of the visitors, that include most of the foreigners, use the Eastern Gate around which most of the big and expensive hotels are located and very few people [no more than five per cent (5%)] use the Southern Gate on the side of the crowded, medieval part of the town.

(3.) On a week day the number of visitors through the Western Gate is calculated at six thousand nine hundred and thirty (6,930) and on the weekends twelve thousand two hundred and fifty (12,250). Through the Easter Gate the number for the weekdays and the weekends are two thousand eight hundred fifteen [2815 (1600 Indians & 1215 foreigners)] and four thousand (4000) respectively. It may be added here that these numbers do not include young persons below the age of fifteen years as they are allowed entry without tickets.