In a hart-hitting rap on the knuckles of the Uttar Pradesh Sunny Wakf Board, the Supreme Court today asked the Board to show proof to support its claim that Mogul king Shah Jahan once ‘gifted’ the Taj Mahal to the Board.

“Did Shah Jahan sign the deed handing over the Taj to you (the Board); produce proof to support your claim,” the apex Court said while taking up a petition filed by the Board which claimed that the historic monument Taj Mahal actually belonged to it.

Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mogul king, acquired the Taj Mahal in 1858 which was later declared as a ‘national property’ soon after the country gained Independence from the British in 1947.  In its petition filed with the SC, the Board has claimed that the Taj Mahal was handed over to it by Shaj Jahan within a few days of the completion of the construction of the world-renowned monument.

A 3-Judge Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, which took up the petition for interrogation, asked the Board to produce evidence to support its claim that it was gifted the ‘Taj Mahal’ by Shah Jahan.  “The King was kept in prison during his last days by his son and how he could have handed over the Taj to you,” the apex Court wondered.