The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed court commissioner and lawyer Krishan Mahajan's plea seeking tighter security at the Taj Mahal monument in Agra in the night.

The application was rejected by a Bench comprising Justice Ruma Pal, Justice S B Sinha and Justice S H Kapadia.

Mahajan had filed an application stating that the Archaeological Survey of India had not put in place a system to check the identity of a person entering the premises to view the Taj. He had also alleged that sophisticated equipment purchased for screening visitors was lying idle.

Advocate A D N Rao, representing the ASI, said all security measures were in place at the monument. Rao said the ASI, however, should not get into any deeper inquiry into visitors' background. "Even when one buys a ticket to board a train or an airplane, such inquiries are not made," he said.

The Bench agreed with Rao and said as long as proper frisking of visitors was taking place and they were being kept at a safe distance from the monument, there was no danger.

On the allegation that sophisticated equipment is lying idle, Rao said the equipment is meant for installation at the facilitation room, which is under construction and has nothing to do with the present security set-up.