Supreme Court Orders Status Quo Over David Yale-Joseph Hynmers Tomb In Madras High Court Compound

The Supreme Court today ordered that status quo be maintained with respect to the Tomb of David Yale and Joseph Hynmers situated in the compound of Law College within the Madras High Court campus.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order, while issuing notice on Senior Advocate T Mohan's plea challenging the Madras High Court order which ordered relocation of the structure holding that it did not qualify as an "ancient monument".

Senior Advocate Shyam Divan appeared for the petitioner and argued that the respondent (petitioner before the High Court) persuaded the High Court to order relocation of the monument as he was purportedly facing parking problems. The senior counsel referred to a notification dated 20.01.1921 issued under Section 3 of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904, vide which the tomb was declared as a protected monument. He particularly highlighted Section 3(4), which provides:

"(4) A notification published under this section shall, unless and until it is withdrawn, be conclusive evidence of the fact that the monument to which it relates is an ancient monument within the meaning of this Act."

Therefore, it was argued, that since there was no prayer for quashing of the notification, there was no question of any judicial scrutiny as to whether the monument was ancient or not. Post independence, Divan added, the status of the monument is even higher as it is now a monument of national importance in terms of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. Ultimately, the bench issued notice and ordered status quo.

To recap, the subject tomb was built by Elihu Yale, who was the Governor of Madras from 1687 to 1692, in memory of his son David Yale and his friend Joseph Hynmer. The structure is now more than 100 years old.

In 2022, respondent-B Manoharan approached the High Court seeking a declaration that the tomb was not an ancient monument and relocation thereof. He argued that the tomb had no archaeological value and did not fall within the scope of the provisions of the 1958 Act. He added that though the High Court administration had come up with a plan to convert the old Law College into court halls and to construct a multi-level parking spot in the open space, the project could not be implemented due to the presence of the tomb.

A Single Bench of the High Court allowed the prayer in July 2023 and ordered relocation of the tomb. It was noted that merely because the tomb had been in existence for more than 100 years could not be the sole reason to declare it as a protected monument under the 1958 Act.

Vide the impugned order, a Division Bench of the High Court upheld the Single Bench's order. Aggrieved, the petitioner approached the Supreme Court.

Case Title: T MOHAN Versus B MANOHARAN AND ORS., Diary No. 26324-2025

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