An administrative block has been planned in the Victoria Memorial Hall compound

The Supreme Court on Tuesday permitted the Victoria Memorial authorities to construct an administrative building inside the complex, rejecting arguments by environment activist Subhash Dutta.

A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, however, asked the authorities to ensure that the building was in consonance with the “architecture” of the “monument”.

Calcutta High Court had barred the project, prompting the Victoria Memorial authorities to move the Supreme Court.

“We will soon file a review plea against the Supreme Court order,” said Dutta, who heads the Howrah Ganatantrik Nagrik Samiti that has been opposing the project.

A review plea is always filed before the same bench. However, if Dutta’s plea is filed after the chief justice retires in May, it will have to be heard by another bench. Dutta had cited a National Environmental Engineering Research Institute report that suggested there should be a “green belt” around the Memorial to protect it.

He had urged the court to take into account the importance of the monument instead of focussing on the purpose of building the new structure. “It is being built for commercial and recreational purposes,” he had said. Any new structure would involve cutting 200 to 300 trees, Dutta had claimed.

The Memorial authorities had said the proposed structure would be much smaller than the monument and would not hamper its aesthetic appeal. The new building would replace existing “old, dilapidated” structures, Harish N. Salve, the lawyer representing the Memorial authorities, had told the bench.