8 months ago
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The Madras High Court, connected Thursday (October 9, 2025), directed Tamil Nadu authorities to represent a practice committee for protecting the age-old buildings and premises not covered nether the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958 and the Tamil Nadu Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1966.
A peculiar Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar and S. Sounthar, constituted for proceeding temple-related cases, ordered that the Tamil Nadu Heritage Commission (TNHC) should beryllium constituted wrong 4 weeks and a compliance study indispensable beryllium filed earlier the court. The interim bid was passed connected a writ petition filed by temple activistic T.R. Ramesh.
The Bench said, though the State legislature had enacted the TNHC Act successful 2012 itself, the instrumentality remained dormant for 12 agelong years and was brought into unit lone with effect from March 12, 2024 aft the former Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad (since dead) nudged the authorities to bash truthful successful a lawsuit filed by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
Not constituted yet
Even aft the instrumentality came into force, the authorities had truthful acold not constituted the committee which should beryllium chaired by an eminent idiosyncratic with interest and committedness for practice conservation and dwell of not much than 16 members including the Tourism secretary, Urban Development Secretary, Municipal Administration Secretary, Rural Development Secretary and Law Secretary who shall beryllium ex-officio members.
Hence, the Bench ordered that the “State authorities indispensable travel guardant to represent specified a committee astatine the earliest.” It directed “the Secretary to Government, Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowments section to instrumentality each indispensable endeavour to represent the Tamil Nadu Heritage Commission preferably wrong a play of 4 weeks from the day of receipt of a transcript of this order.”
Tiruvannamalai temple works
Arguing arsenic a party-in-person, Mr. Ramesh had highlighted the lack of TNHC to the tribunal during the proceeding of his lawsuit complaining astir aggregate operation works being carried retired by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) section some wrong and extracurricular the Arunachaleswarar Temple astatine Tiruvannamalai. The judges had inspected each those works connected October 5.
Pursuant to their inspection, the judges directed the HR&CE departmernt to temporarily halt the operation works being undertaken for establishing a queue complex, an Annadhanam koodam (a shed for serving food), a prasadam stall and the projected facelifting of Tirukalyanamandapam astatine Kalyanasundareswarar Sannidhi until the tribunal could analyse them further and walk indispensable orders.
The section was besides directed to halt the ongoing operation of a memorial for a temple elephant. After uncovering that the memorial was being built connected a main roadworthy extracurricular the temple premises, the judges wondered if it was truly indispensable to enactment up specified a immense construction. They directed the HR&CE officials to taxable records to beryllium that indispensable approvals had been obtained for the memorial.
The Bench led by Justice Kumar, however, permitted the HR&CE section to spell up with the ongoing works for providing facade lighting to the Rajagopuram (prime temple tower) and giving a facelift to the Kalaiarangam (auditorium).
