Begin typing your search...
Orders reserved on plea against Jaya memorial
Even as Advocate General Vijay Narayan submitted that 60 per cent of the work on former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s memorial on Marina beach is complete and is scheduled to be inaugurated in mid-March of 2019, the Madras High Court on Wednesday reserved its orders on a plea challenging the construction of a memorial for the late Chief Minister.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
A division bench comprising Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice P Rajamanickam before whom arguments prevailed, reserved orders without mentioning a date.
The petitioner had contended on various aspects ranging from violations relating to Coastal Zone Regulation and Jayalalithaa’s conviction in the disproportionate case said public money ought not to be wasted for the construction of her memorial.
Advocate General appearing for the State submitted that memorials have been built for almost all the former Chief Ministers of the State and at present, the State is maintaining as many as 69 memorials.
Noting that the memorial is coming up as per law, the Advocate General said nearly 60 per cent of the work on the Rs 50 crore project is complete, and all sanctions including CRZ clearance have been obtained.
He also noted that the memorial was beyond the hightide line and it was within the space wherein MGR memorial exists and hence was very much within the ambit of clearance offered for the MGR memorial.
However, to the bench’s remark that all clearances seemed to have worked at the speed of light, the Advocate General submitted that due process of law prevailed, and it took them nearly a year and a half to obtain all clearances.
With regards to Jayalalithaa’s conviction in the disproportionate case, the Advocate General on citing the Supreme Court order said the judgement had abated charges against her as she had died during the pendency of the appeal against her acquittal and hence there was no bar in building a memorial for her.
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android
Next Story
