HC questions govt. for not setting up heritage commission

Madras High Court criticizes Tamil Nadu government for delays in establishing a heritage commission to protect historical buildings.

The Madras High Court on Thursday expressed displeasure over Tamil Nadu government not having constituted a heritage commission for protecting age-old buildings, and such premises not being covered under 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, despite multiple court orders and fixation of timelines.

A special Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar and S. Sounthar, constituted to hear temple related cases, said, the delay in constituting the commission despite a judicial order passed in October 2025, to constitute it within four weeks, only indicates the reluctance of the government. They said such a commission was essential to approve civil works in many age-old temples that do not fall under the 1958 and 1966 legislations.

When the court was informed that a notification was published in the Tamil Nadu Archaeology department website calling for applications to the post of chairperson of the commisision and that so far, five applications had been received, the judges wondered how could the government expect the eminent persons on the subject to visit the website on a regular basis to know about the notification.

They also attempted to read the notification in the open court but found that the Tamil Nadu archaeology department website www.tnarch.gov.in could not be reached.

Hence, they directed the government to publish a fresh notification within a week in leading news dailies and grant two weeks’ time for submission of applications. Thereafter, the commission must be constituted within four weeks and no civil works must be carried out in the age old temples without its approval, judges said while passing interim orders on a writ petition filed by temple activist T.R. Ramesh.

The Tamil Nadu Heritage Commission Act of 2012 was passed by the State legislature to preserve heritage structures in the State. However, when the commission was not constituted for long despite the passing of the legislation, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) filed a public interest litigation petition in the High Court in 2019 for constitution of the commission at the earliest.