more-in The State Department of Archaeology told the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday that it has applied to the Union Ministry of Culture for starting the fifth phase of the excavations at Keezhadi near Madurai following the completion of the fourth phase. Additional Advocate General B. Pugalendhi told the court that more than 7,000 artefacts had been unearthed so far from the site, and the highlight of the fourth phase was the discovery of a gold ornament. He said that steps would now be taken to determine the age of the ornament through carbon dating. A Division Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Sathish Kumar, hearing the plea moved by Advocate Kanimozhi Mathi who sought a direction for the preservation of the site, asked the State to initiate steps to safeguard the artefacts. It also sought the report filed by Amarnath Ramakrishnan, an official of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), on the first two phases of the excavations. Meanwhile, a public interest litigation petition was filed by P. Prabhakar Pandian of Madurai before the High Court Bench seeking a direction to restrain the ASI from filing a report on the excavations. He claimed that the transfer of Mr. Ramakrishnan had affected the third phase of the excavation.

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