India, Aug. 20 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday stepped in to protect two ancient monuments in Delhi's Mehrauli, directing the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to abide by the Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) decision before taking any demolition action around them.

The court's order came on a petition filed by Zameer Ahmed Jumlana, who sought protection of the structures -- Ashiq Allah Dargah and the Chillagah of Baba Farid -- from demolition drives. The petitioner argued that though the sites were of historic significance, DDA was treating them as encroachments while clearing illegal structures in the Mehrauli green belt.

A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan ruled that the monuments' repair and renovation, if requir...