High Court-appointed special officer and retired Inspector General of Police A.G. Ponn Manickavel, who is handling idol theft cases, shot off an email to the Commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department on non-maintenance of proper records for formal “handing over and taking over” of antique metal and stone idols and jewellery in temples across the State.

In a recent communication to the Department, Mr. Manickavel said executive officers in charge of the Arunchaleshwarar Temple, Tiruvannamalai, had failed to carry out their legal duty, from the year 1959 to 2018, as mandated in the provisions of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Act, 1959.

“As per Section 29 of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, for every religious institution, a register on the jewels, gold, silver, precious stones, vessels and utensils and other movables belonging to the institution, with their weights and estimated value, shall be prepared and maintained; Section 30 stipulates that the trustee or his authorised agent scrutinize the entries in the register every year and submit it to the Commissioner and Section 31 mandates submission of the register once in ten years — a consolidated register incorporating therein all alterations, omissions and additions made.”

“Consequently, the ageless and priceless cultural heritage — idols of more than 1000 years of antiquity — remained undocumented and unaccounted for 60 years. Nothing could be graver in dimension than these acts of dereliction of legal duty for a continuous period of 60 years by the officers concerned. Public servants disobeying the directions of the law is an act of grave misconduct warranting initiation of suspension proceedings against all concerned,” said Mr. Manickavel in his communication.

Response awaited

Mr. Manickavel told The Hindu, “I have written to the HR&CE Department several times when I was the Inspector General of Police and after I was appointed as the special officer. There was no response. We are not able compare photos of Hindu idols displayed in foreign art galleries with existing temple documents.”