News
Court intervenes once again to stop work at historic Portuguese church in Mannar
View(s):By S. Rubatheesan
Amidst attempts to go ahead with renovation work on a Portuguese-built church in Mannar despite an interim order issued earlierlast month, the Court of Appeal has instructed the Registrar to redirect the notices prohibiting the demolition of any part of the structure until a final determination is made on the archaeological importance of the shrine.
Three parishioners from St. Mary’s Church, situated inArippu of Chilawathurai in Mannar, Arulappu Sellaiya Loorththamma, Arulappu Amirthanathan and Sahaya Arokkiyamany had filed a petition in Court challenging steps taken by the church management to renovate the historic shrine.
File pic of St. Mary's church Mannar
The Church, built by the Portuguese is one of the well-known Catholic shrines in the country, and visited by the faithful from all over.
Through a motion on Friday, the Court was told that despite an interim order issued on June 8 barring any such construction activities, the renovation work continued violating the order.The bench directed the Registrar to re-serve the notices issued earlier immediately via telephone, email, fax or through courier service.
The petitioners argued that the church was not only a part of the Sri Lankan Church history but an archaeological site which must be protected by the State.
When the case was taken up last month before a two-member bench comprising Justice N. Bandula Karunarathna, President of the Court of Appeal and Justice M.A. R. Marikaar, the court was convinced of the archaeological value of the building and issued an interim order preventing any construction work.
The petitioners alleged that officials of the Church Management Committee (Mariyal Makkal Peravai) and the Parish priest of the church had taken a decision to demolish the shrine despite its archaeological, and historical value and objections raised by the worshippers in 2020.
The Department of Archaeology was notified of such attempts and the Director General called for a report on the matter through a Development Officer attached to the District Secretariat of Mannar as well.
Despite several requests from worshippers and devotees to protect the shrine in its current form, the Church management committee had begun work on the church on January 31 last year, the petitioners alleged. A police complaint was also lodged against the act on the basis that the Department of Archaeology had not granted permission to carry out such activities.
In May, the Director General of Archaeology responded to the petitioners indicating that the department had instructed Regional Assistant Director to inspect the building and make necessary recommendations for listing and conservation. In addition, he had also requested church authorities to consider the historic architectural patterns when carrying out repair works under the supervision of a qualified architect.
The petitioners stressed that even after becoming aware of the historical importance of the church the DG has failed to exercise his statutory duties vested in him to protect the church..
The Minister and Secretary to the Ministery of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, the Director of the Department of Catholic Affairs, Director General and Director (Architectural Conservation) of the Department of Archaeology, the District Secretary of Mannar, the President and the Secretary of Mariyal Makkal Peravai and the Parish priest of Punitha Mariyal Alayamhave been named as respondents.
Senior lawyer Laksan Dias with Attorney at Law Naneesha Kumaasinghe, instructed by Kasuni Hearth appeared for the petitioners while Yureshsa Fernando, Deputy Solicitor General with P. Jananthan, State Counsel represented all government officials, other than the Mannar District Secretary, who were named as respondents along with officials of the Church Management Committee.
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