A division bench of the Madras High Court comprising of Justices R Mahadevan and PD Audikesavalu, observed that the richness of the cultural heritage of Tamil Nadu must be preserved and passed on to the future generations with all its grandeur.
The 224-page order authored by Justice R Mahadevan starts with quotes from Albert Camus and Victor Hugo about culture and devotes a significant portion to describe the legacy of Tamil Nadu.
"The younger generation hyping upon science and technological development needs to understand that many things claimed to be discovered and equated with scientific objective were said and laid down here before centuries in spiritual sphere", reads the prelude of the order.
The entire state is strewn with great example of ancient Tamil architecture that goes as far back as two thousand years. Apart from the temples, the state is also home to several historical forts and other modern architectural marvels from its medieval heritage to colonial history. It comprises of the oldest inhabitants of the world, as it is the motherland to the world's oldest language, Tamil, in usage. The state has remained a cultural hub for various activities like debates, art, innovations, architecture, music and commerce from time immemorial. The culture, tradition and practices were connected with religious beliefs, said the judgement.
The court highlighted the undeniable fact that these heritage and cultural assets are going into oblivion in recent times. It stated the upcoming generation does not know about the value of the same.
The Court passed directions which may lead to reform in the administration of temples under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act (HR&CE Act). It also criticized the HR & CE and the archaeology departments for not doing enough for preservation and protection of ancient temples and idols.
The bench directed that the state should constitute a 17-member heritage commission within two months, and declared that no structural alteration or repair of any monument, temple, idol, sculpture or murals notified either under the Central Act or the State Act should take place without the sanction of the commission.
The court ordered the HR & CE department to display the number of idols of historical importance that have been stolen on their website, the number stolen, the number retrieved and the status of investigation with regard to stolen cases.
The Court also directed the Central Government to declare all the religious structures aged more than 100 years as National Monuments.
The orders were passed on a Suo motu Public Interest Litigation petition taken up by the court on the basis of a reader's letter titled 'The Silent burial' published in The Hindu on January 8, 2015. The Suo moto case was initiated by the then Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul (now Supreme Court judge). The bench also considered a batch of other PILs which were filed after the Suo moto case was taken.
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