Form recovery team to bring back idols from other countries: Plea

The petition also sought an official declaration that these recovered statutes and sculptures belong to India. A special division bench, comprising Justice R Mahadevan and Justice P Audikesavalu, before whom the plea came up for hearing issued notice to the Ministry of Culture, Director of Antiquity, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Ministry of External Affairs, Secretary, Tamil Development and Information Department and others.

The petitioner B Jagannath, practicing as an advocate at MHC, submitted a report released by the United Nations Social Defence Research Institute titled ‘The Protection of the Artistic and Archaeological Heritage’ released in 1976 which stated that between 1969 and 1973, as many as 240 idols were stolen from Tamil Nadu.

Another study by the State government published in 1967 showed that idol thefts and illegal exports had come to the attention of the authorities as far back as 1920s and 30s. Several of these early cases involved the illegal export of idols to France often stolen via Puducherry. The number of reported thefts rose steeply in 1940 to 1949, and this trend continued in the next decade, too.

Noting that this present case has been filed to retrieve our lost culture which is scattered all over the world due to idol smuggling that was done systematically to destroy our Ancient Indian and Tamil Culture, the petitioner said that he had submitted a plea in this regard on September 5, 2018. Since nothing concrete had come forth, he had no choice but to move the High Court.

However, the bench while hearing another plea pertaining to the theft of a 1,300-year-old peacock idol at Thirumeni Nathar Temple in Virudhunagar District, slammed the government for such a grave lapse and official inaction to trace the stolen idol.

The bench on noting that while the temples generated ample income owing to contributions by devotees, it wondered as to how the authorities failed to protect the ancient idols in the temples. The bench also orally stated that if the State can’t protect the idols in temples, it would do well by closing the temples and posted both the pleas for further hearing on April 29.