BJP leader Subramanian Swamy demanded an urgent hearing on a plea for declaring Ram Setu as a 'National Heritage'. The Supreme Court agreed to her plea on March 9, 2022.
The three-judge bench constitutes of Chief Justice of India CV Ramana, Justice Bopanna and Justice Hima Kohli. BJP's Rajya Sabha MP,
Swamy has argued in court that a meeting was called by a group of ministers to consider his demand but nothing happened after that. Then, in January 2020, the SC agreed to hear Swamy's plea.
Ram Setu is a bridge made of a chain of limestone shoals on the southern coast of Tamil Nadu. It is believed to be the same bridge built by Lord Ram as mentioned in the epic of Ramayan.
In 2007, the UPA government had proposed a Sethusamudram project under which an 83-km-long deep water channel was to be created by extensive dredging and removal of the limestone shoals. Swamy challenged this decision in court and later on the central government had to adopt an alternative plan to link Mannar with Palk Strait.
The petition seeking to declare Ram Setu as a national heritage monument is pending for a long time.