MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court summoned the superintending archaeologist of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Chennai and the executive officer of Brihadisvara temple devasthanam and told them to produce the records related to the permission granted to the Art of Living Foundation to conduct an event at the temple.
A bench comprising Justices KK Sasidharan and PD Audikesavalu gave the direction while hearing a public interest litigation filed by N Venkatesh, a chartered accountant from Kumbakonam, seeking cancellation of the permission granted to the foundation for conducting yoga classes for two days at the Brihadisvara temple in Thanjavur.
The Court had earlier ordered interim injunction restraining the foundation from conducting the event at the temple and pursuant to the same, the event was shifted to another location and the structures erected by the foundation at the temple for the class were removed.
However, the Judges sought an explanation from ASI on what basis the organisation had granted permission to the foundation to conduct the event at a 1,000-year-old temple and also whether ASI may give similar permission to other private parties in future.
Responding to the same on Wednesday, the counsel appearing for the ASI submitted that they had permitted the foundation only for conducting a bhajan and for the erection of a temporary pandhal and not for yoga classes or establishing huge tents.
But, the Judges criticised ASI stating that if that was the case, then the ASI officials ought to have taken action against the event organisers for violating the permission granted by them, saying that the incident may become a wrong precedent.
As the same was not done, the bench directed the superintending archaeologist of ASI and the executive officer of the temple to appear before it on December 13.