The Madras High Court on Tuesday asked the Tamil Nadu government to abide by its 2014 order regarding the removal of the statue of legendary actor Shivaji Ganesan from Marina Beach.
The first bench comprising of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sundar was hearing a contempt petition filed by a resident of Triplicane.
The Additional Advocate General informed the bench that the state government has decided to shift the statue by May 18 as opposed to its earlier plan of asking for an extension till October.
“The time schedule submitted before us has to be adhered to. We hope the authorities will not give any cause to us to revive the petition and take a most stringent view of the matter,” the court said while closing the petition case.
A contempt petition was filed by Nagarajan, who claimed himself to be the follower of Mahatma Gandhi and a social worker.
Nagarajan’s father PN Srinivasan had originally filed a writ petition on which the Madras High Court delivered a judgment in January, 2014 asking the state government to take a decision with regard to removal of the Statue as expeditiously as possible.
Nagarajan filed a contempt petition stating that the government has not complied with the January, 2014 order and has not taken any steps to consider the issue.
Nagarajan further said that he also sent a notice to the government authorities in May 2014 but received no response.
Meanwhile, then CM Jayalalithaa announced in May 2016 that a memorial will be built for the legendary actor and the statue will be shifted to that memorial.
In 2014, the Madras High Court ordered that the bronze statue, standing nearly 8 feet tall, be removed as it obstructed traffic visibility. The police had told the court that 21 accidents had taken place near the statue, with one fatality.
The statue was unveiled by the DMK government in 2006.
Source: The News Minute