A day after the Madras high court lambasted the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) commissioner, and even threatened to abolish the department and abrogate the HR&CE Act, the Tamil Nadu government informed the court that it would withdraw a letter written to Unesco discouraging it from taking part in ancient heritage temple restoration works.

After the HR&CE commissioner, summoned by the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sundar, appeared in person on Thursday, the bench observed: "If I put myself in his place, I would have welcomed the help and expertise offered by Unesco. The intent of the person who is at the helm of the affairs clearly shows that he is not interested to welcome Unesco. If this is his attitude, he must be unsuitable for the post."