Tamil Nadu Heritage Commission Act brought into force after 12 years, thanks to Madras High Court

Madras High Court directs Tamil Nadu government to enforce Tamil Nadu Heritage Commission Act of 2012 after 12 years.

The Madras High Court has succeeded in making the Tamil Nadu government bring into force the Tami Nadu Heritage Commission Act of 2012 (as amended in 2017), 12 years since it was enacted by the legislature. The court has now directed the government to constitute the commission to preserve the heritage structures in the State.

First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad recorded the submission of State Government Pleader A. Edwin Prabhakar that the amended Act was notified pursuant to interim orders passed by the court on February 22 and that it had come into force from March 1, 2024.

After recording his submission, the judges said, now there would be no impediment in constituting the heritage commission as insisted by senior counsel N.L. Rajah representing the  Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) whose public interest litigation petition had been pending in the High Court since 2019.

“The State authorities shall now take steps for implementing the said Act and also constitute the Heritage Commission as contemplated under the said Act,” the Bench ordered and directed the High Court Registry to list the PIL petition next on July 15, 2024 for reporting compliance of their orders.

In its affidavit INTACH had stated the 2012 Act, as amended in 2017, required constitution of a Tamil Nadu Heritage Commission, chaired by an eminent person with concern for heritage conservation and comprising top government officials. However, it complained of no such commission having been constituted till date.

When the matter was heard on February 22, the then first Bench comprising the Chief Justice and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy had expressed shock over the Act not having been brought into force for the last 12 years. The court also said, the delay in framing statutory rules under the Act could not be cited as a reason to not notify it.

“The stand taken by the Government for non implementation of the Act of 2012 for 12 years, does not augur well for the government. Twelve years is not small a period for not implementing the Act of 2012. The very object of promulgating the Act of 2012 would be frustrated if the same is not brought into force,” the Bench had observed.