POONAM VERMA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners who are 30 in number are seeking a direction to the respondents not to interfere in the working of the petitioners as local guides over the protected monuments situate in the Agra circle and Agra. They have also prayed for a direction to the respondent no.1 to formulate a permanent platform for the working of the local guides over the protected monuments. The petitioners claim to be residents of Agra and state that they are interested in working as local guides over the protected monuments situated in the city of Agra. Their contention is that they are not being allowed to work as local guides by the authorities of the Archaeological Survey of India on the ground that they do not have a permanent license of local guide. The petitioners claim to be well qualified for working as local guides and it is also stated that most of the petitioners are Graduate and are well versed in the vernacular language as well as foreign language.

(2.) The contention of the petitioners is that under Rule 8 Clause (d) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as 'Rules, 1959') no person shall show a visitor round or take his photograph for monetary consideration, except under the authority of, or under and in accordance with the conditions of, a license granted by an archaeological officer. It is stated that from time to time, the respondents have framed guidelines for regulating the conditions for grant of license to a person who may take the visitors around the protected monuments for monetary considerations. It is stated that under the Notification dated 20.5.2010, the Additional Director General (Tourism) has also been made a statutory authority under Sec. 2(c) for purposes of granting a license. Reference has been made to the Government of India, Department of Culture, Archaeological Survey of India Notification dated 21.01.2003, Annexure-3 to the writ petition. Para 9 of the said Notification provides that on successful completion of training course the Regional Level Guides would be issued Guide License by the concerned Regional India Tourism Office by the Government of India; State Level Guides, on successful completion of their training course would be issued Guide Licenses by the Director of Tourism of the respective State which would be duly endorsed by the Department of Tourism, Government of India and Archaeological Survey of India. Para 9 of the Notification dated 21.01.2003 reads as under:-

(3.) Reference has also been made to the Government of India, Ministry of Tourism Guidelines dated 22.9.2011, Annexure-5 to the writ petition, which provides that in Clause (d) of Rule 8 of the Rules, 1959 after the word "archaeological officer", the words "or the Additional Director General, Department of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India to the extent of showing a visitor round" shall be inserted. Therefore, it was laid down that all previous Guidelines/Clarifications issued by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India from time to time shall stand superseded and new Guidelines for selection, training and licensing of the Regional Level Tourist Guides, 2011 have been issued. Para 16 of the Guidelines under the heading 'Jurisdiction' provides the area of operation of the Regional Level Guides under five sub regions, namely, Northern Region, Southern Region, Western and Central Regions, Eastern Region and North Eastern Region. The Northern Region constitutes the States of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh. It is stated that a bunch of writ petitions, leading Writ petition being Writ petition no. 28274 of 2012 (Santosh Baghel and others Vs. Union of India and others) were filed with the petitioners praying that they may be provided a license as a Local Guide so that they can be permitted to practise their profession in an around the protected monuments situate in Agra, Varanasi and at other districts in the State of Uttar Pradesh. Those writ petitions were disposed of by a Division Bench of this Court by its judgment dated 7.3.2014 with the following directions:-