Veteran architect JK Lall dies of heart attack

New Delhi, May 13

Veteran architect and INTACH Patna convener JK Lall, who was spearheading the legal fight to save the historic Patna Collectorate from demolition, died of a heart attack on Friday. He was 86.

Lall died on the day the Supreme Court gave its final word in the case related to the proposed demolition of the Dutch-era Patna Collectorate by the Bihar Government, bringing to an end a nearly three-year-old litigation. INTACH lost the legal battle. The Bihar government in early 2016 had planned a new collectorate complex by dismantling the old structures, triggering protests from various quarters.

The then Dutch Ambassador, the UK-based Gandhi Foundation and the INTACH chairman among others had appealed to the Bihar government not to demolish the historic Patna Collectorate.