NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a Madras High Court direction ordering the eviction of Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) from government land in Thanjavur, saying the Tamil Nadu government should not make a dispute of a “prestige issue.”

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vijay Bishnoi asked the state government, represented by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, to set up a high-powered committee of three senior state officials to consider SASTRA’s representation and accord the institution a hearing before deciding the issue in four weeks.

Asking the state to act “sensitively” while dealing with public educational institutions, the bench said till the time the representation is decided by the panel, the functioning of the institution should not be hindered.

The bench, however, noted that the encroachment on public land cannot be encouraged.

The present case involved a public educational institution performing a welfare function and not a commercial enterprise, it said, adding that a welfare state must take into account the role played by such institutions.