The Tamil Nadu government today informed the Madras High Court that the statue of thespian late Sivaji Ganesan at a main road junction in the city would be shifted to the proposed memorial.
A submission to this effect was made by the Secretary, Tamil Development and Information Department before a division bench comprising Justices Satish K Agnihotri and K K Sasidharan.
The court was hearing a contempt petition filed by one P Nagarajan in connection with implementation of the January 23 HC order in connection with the writ over removing the statue.
The petitioner is the son of one P N Srinivasan, a Gandhian and social worker who had originally filed the writ to remove the statue in the middle of the busy Kamarajar Salai-Radhakrishnan Salai junction, opposite a statue of Gandhi.
As his father died during the pendency of the petition, Nagarajan substituted himself in continuation of the PIL.
The department in its counter affidavit today stated that the Chief Minister had announced on the floor of the Assembly that a ‘manimandapam’ (memorial) would be built on the 65 cents of land allotted to South Indian Film Artiste Association as per a government order.
The counter submitted that the delay in implementing the HC order on shifting the statue was neither wilful nor wanton, but purely due to administrative reasons.
When the bench asked the government pleader how much time it would take to build the memorial, he replied that he would get instructions, following which the matter was posted to September 16 for further hearing.
The decision to shift the statue comes more than one-and-a-half years after police informed the court that the statue was a traffic hindrance and road risk.
The HC had on January 23, 2014 directed the state government to take a decision as expeditiously as possible with regard to removal of the statue.
Nagarajan had submitted that the government had neither complied with the Jan 23 order nor taken steps to consider the issue even 10 months since the order was given.
He said he had already sent a notice to the government authorities concerned on May 21 ,last year on their inaction, but had not received any response.
Nagarajan had submitted that lack of action on the part of the government amounts to wilful disobedience of the court’s order, warranting punishment under the Contempt of Courts Act and sought punishment of the authorities concerned.
The statue was unveiled by the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on July 21, 2006.