New Delhi, May 13 (PTI) Veteran architect and INTACH Patna convener J K Lall, who was spearheading the legal fight to save the historic Patna Collectorate from demolition, died of a heart attack on Friday, his family said. He was 86.

Lall was doing fine in the morning, but he breathed his last in the afternoon, his wife Maya Lall said.

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"He had some complications today. I was with him when he suffered the fatal attack. We lost our son in 2020, and now he is gone too," she told PTI over phone from Patna.

Patna lost a champion of heritage preservation, the family added.

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J K Lall died on a day the Supreme Court gave its final word in a 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.

The Indian National Trust for Art and Culture's Patna Chapter led by him had been fighting to save the building from demolition since 2019, when it had taken the matter to the Patna High Court. The matter then went to the Supreme Court in 2020 which had granted a stay on the demolition. On Friday, INTACH lost the legal battle.

INTACH, a Delhi-based heritage body, has been endeavouring to preserve built heritage, particularly unprotected heritage, with chapters spread across the country.

The Bihar government in early 2016 had planned to construct 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 in 2016 not to demolish the historic Patna Collectorate. They had urged the state to preserve it as a "shared heritage" and "signpost of history" as it is one of the last surviving Dutch structures in the city.

On Friday morning, ahead of the court hearing, J K Lall had "hoped for a positive outcome" that would "set an example for heritage preservation" in Patna and the rest of Bihar, his family said.

The veteran architect had been suffering from heart-related complications.

"We took him to the emergency room at Sahyog Hospital after he lost consciousness following the attack. He was declared brought dead at the hospital. We have brought his body home in a case as we are awaiting the arrival of his younger son and his family from the US," said Ritesh Runu, son-in law of Lall's younger brother.

Lall is survived by his 81-year-old wife and his younger son. In December 2020, he lost his elder son and noted architect Vikram Lall, who died of a heart attack in Brussels.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)