The La Martiniere schools wanted their buildings removed from the list of Calcutta’s Grade I heritage edifices.

The state heritage commission rejected the demand at a meeting on Friday.

A letter from the La Martieniere schools, dated December 20, urged the commission to “issue appropriate orders/directions to forthwith remove the buildings of La Martiniere School for Boys, located at Dr. UN Bramhachari Street, and La Martiniere School for Girls, located at Sarojini Naidu Sarani Street, from the list of Grade I Heritage Buildings”.

Members of the heritage commission said they turned down the demand and requested the school not to seek delisting and “rather encourage conservation in / of their elegant heritage premises”.

The commission also promised “all help” in the conservation and restoration of the buildings.

Both La Martiniere for Boys and La Martiniere for Girls are listed as Grade I heritage buildings in the records of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

According to KMC’s Graded List of Heritage Buildings, drawn up in 2009, “no external change will be permissible” in a Grade I heritage structure. It adds that “use of the building should also be compatible with the category of the heritage building”.

“La Martiniere Schools approached us with a request to remove the school buildings from the list of heritage buildings. We turned down their plea and highlighted the rich history of the institutions and why they should be conserved,” said Partha Ranjan Das, a member of the West Bengal Heritage Commission.

“The school buildings have both historical and architectural values. The buildings represent British colonial architecture. There is a dome above the entrance foyer. A series of grand steps leads a visitor into the buildings. This is the same architecture one will see in Town Hall or Medical College Kolkata,” said Das.

Another member spoke of the rich history of the 188-year-old institution. “The La Martiniere Schools represent the first wave of institutions set up in India that brought modern western education to the subcontinent. Claude Martin, who served in the French Army and later made huge fortunes working for the East India Company, left a large portion of his wealth in setting up educational institutions in Calcutta and Lucknow,” said the member.

Many old pupils lamented that the school needed a lesson from the authorities about its own rich legacy.

The request to delist comes at a time the school has been accused of showing scant regard for heritage and carrying out a repair and restoration job without consulting people in the know.

Supriyo Dhar, secretary, La Martiniere schools, said: “We are waiting for a written communication from the heritage commission.”

The letter to the commission said that La Martiniere was a minority institution. “The school is entitled to establish and administer its affairs without undue interference from external authorities.”

It said: “The restrictions imposed by heritage guidelines are antithetical to the fundamental right of the school to freely manage and regulate its property, especially when this impedes our ability to make necessary repairs and renovations to maintain a safe and functioning institution.”

The school had not sought permission from the KMC’s heritage committee during the latest repair job.

In November, a stairway on the southern side of La Martiniere for Boys that had names of former students engraved on them for decades disappeared courtesy hurriedly laid marble slabs. The Association of La Martiniere Alumni (Alma) came down on the school for the job.

The KMC’s heritage conservation committee asked the school to stop the repairs.

Although it is KMC’s heritage conservation committee that decides what repairs will be allowed in heritage buildings in the Calcutta municipal area, the letter from La Martiniere was addressed to the state heritage commission.

A member of the commission said the West Bengal Heritage Commission Act, 2001, has given overarching powers to the commission about matters of heritage in the state.