Delhi High Court upholds ASI selection process for issue of fresh license to photograph protected monuments

The Delhi High Court has upheld the selection procedure put in place by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for the issue of licenses to photographers who had earlier (since 2012) been allowed to take photos at protected monuments without a license. [Mata Prasad and Ors vs Union of India and Ors]..The Court has rejected a contention raised by such photographers (petitioners) that they should be treated at par with other photographers who already held licenses prior to 2012 and who were only required to undergo a refresher course to get their old licenses revalidated. .Effectively, a division bench of Justices Manmohan and Mini Pushkarna has refused to extend the benefit of clause 2.7 of “The Policy for Archaeological Survey of India Photographers to perform within Centrally Protected Monuments" of 2017 to the petitioners..Terming the policy reasonable and fair, the Court said that the policy has been notified by the ASI to regulate photographers within monuments and to ameliorate the condition and treatment of visitors there.“The policy mandating the obtaining of licence to work as photographers in ASI protected monuments has been notified by the ASI in larger public interest to regulate the quality and conduct of photographers for the benefit of visitors and tourist,” it added..By way of background, prior to 2012, photographers were required to take a license from the ASI to work in centrally protected monuments.However, after an amendment to the rules in 2012, between 2012 and 2016, photographers were allowed to work at the monuments simply by purchasing an entry ticket to visit the monument. The license regime was restored in 2018 under the 2017 policy..Under the 2017 policy (which took effect in 2018) those photographers who had secured licenses prior to 2012 were required to only undergo refresher courses to revalidate their licenses. This relaxation was contained in clause 2.7 of the 2017 ASI policy. .However, photographers without a license had to get a fresh license on the basis of various eligibility conditions like age limit, and educational qualifications and also undergo a selection process, which included a written test, a practical test and a viva voce..This was challenged before the High Court by the photographers (petitioners) who had been allowed to work without licenses between 2012-2016. They sought to be treated at par with photographers who held licenses before 2012..The Court, however, opined that merely because the petitioners had earlier been allowed to work in the monuments without a license, it “does not obviate the requirement of obtaining licence in terms of the policy that is prevalent now.”.The Court added that photographers applying for a license for the first time cannot claim to be at par with those who held licenses from the ASI prior to 2012.“The photographers who are applying for licence for operating in ASI Protected Monuments for the first time are a different class and cannot claim to be at par with the photographers who had valid licences from the ASI prior to the year 2012 in terms of the then policy of the ASI,” the Court said..It also rejected the petitioners’ argument that the ASI's decision was jeopardizing their right under Article 19(1)(g) (right to trade) of the Constitution of India.“All those persons who seek to operate as photographers in ASI protected monuments are liable to obtain licence from ASI after participating in the prescribed selection process,” the Court concluded, before dismissing the writ petition. .Advocate Taranpreet Singh, Dharm Prakash and Mohd. Shameem represented the petitioners (photographers).Advocates Vikrant N.Goyal, Jeet Chakravarti, Rituparna Sahoo, Monika Arora, Subrodeep Saha, Prakriti Bandhan, Rakesh Kumar and Sunil represented the Union of India and other respondents..[Read Judgement]