HC seeks ASI inspection of its building for maintenance

Bench asks heritage committee to consider plea to this effect

Time for a revamp: The PWD is currently undertaking repair work on the High Court premises.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday made a request to its ‘heritage committee,’ comprising four judges, to consider a plea made by one of its advocate members to get the 125-year-old building of the court inspected by top officials from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in order to find out ways and means through which it could be maintained properly.

The first Division Bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M. Sundar asked Additional Advocate General C. Manishankar, also a member of the committee, to convey the oral request made by it to all the members of the next committee during the meeting and hoped that the plea would be considered positively. The request was made after advocate member M.T. Arunan claimed that his request to keep the Public Works Department at bay and hand over the maintenance of the heritage building to a dedicated team of archaeologists from the ASI was not heeded by the committee. He accused the PWD of having spoilt the building over the years through unmindful acts.

Arguing a public interest litigation petition filed by himself, Mr. Arunan said the PWD had only ended up causing more damage to the building whenever it endeavoured to attend to repairs. Objecting to his submissions, the AAG said that the advocate could always air his grievances before the committee, of which he was a part, rather than presenting them before the court.

In so far as the lawyer’s other plea with regard to the maintenance of a heritage building at the Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College was concerned, the Chief Justice asked him to file a separate petition seeking appropriate directions from the court. She said it would not be appropriate to deal with the maintenance of the law college building in a case related to the High Court building.

At this point, Mr. Justice Sundar impressed upon the need for preserving the heritage building of the law college since it was a fine building with wonderful acoustics in the lecture halls. He recalled that one of the most celebrated judges of the country, Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, was an alumnus of the institution which was then called The Madras Law College.

Pointing out that the heritage building of the law college had now been put to disuse and cordoned off, the judge asked the Additional Advocate General to ensure that it was also restored to its old glory.