UP govt gets HC notice over Maya statues

In Yet another setback to the Uttar Pradesh Government,the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court...

In Yet another setback to the Uttar Pradesh Government,the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the state Government over the installation of statues of Chief Minister Mayawati and Dalit icons at the cost of the exchequer.

The petition challenging the installation of the 15- to 20-feet-high statues contended that they obstructed traffic at the busy intersections of the state capital and national highways,even as they stood in violation of an earlier High Court order decreeing that the height of the structures should not be more than 3 feet.

On June 29,the Supreme Court had also issued a notice to the UP Government,giving it four weeks to give a reply on the expenditure in the construction of several memorials,parks and statues.

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Hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a local lawyer Colonel (retd) Satya Vir Singh Yadav Justices Rajiv Sharma and Dr Satish Chandra of the Lucknow Bench of the High Court have fixed July 10 as the next date of hearing in both the cases.

Former advocate general of Uttar Pradesh and Rajya Sabha MP of the Samajwadi party,Virendra Bhatia,who appeared for Yadav,contended that the installation of the statues was in violation of a High Court order of

July 1,2005.

He said that as per the order,no statue more than 3 feet in height could be installed at road crossings and junctions,particularly those on the national highways. He argued that the statues,however,have been installed on main roads here which were in violation of the order and,thus,illegal. He pleaded that either the height of the statues be reduced to 3 feet or they be removed from the crossings. The PIL was strongly opposed by the state Government.

Chief Minister Mayawati had on June 25 unveiled 15 statues,nine days ahead of schedule.

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The Supreme Court has already sought an explanation from the UP Government for allegedly spending crores of rupees from the state exchequer.