Living Person’s Statue Can Be Installed, too, UP Govt Tells SC
Offering a justification in statues installation of Dalit icons, the Uttar Pradesh government has told the Supreme Court that it is wrong notion that statues of only dead persons can be installed.
Expressing disappointment over the way in which the hype is being created over installation of Mayawati’s statues, the state government quoted instances of superstar Amitabh Bachchan and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose statues have been erected.
“It is a wrong notion that only statues of dead persons can be installed. There is no dearth of examples whether in the country or abroad about statues of living persons. In the Indian context, one can easily refer to A B Vajpayee Institute of Technology and Management, Gwalior and Amitabh Bachchan Institute at Saifai, Etawah,” the state government said in an affidavit.
“Abroad we have wax statues of film stars, cricketers and other living personalities finding place in Madame Tussauds museum,” the state said.
The affidavit was filed in response to the petition that blamed the state government for misusing public funds for the installation of statues of Mayawati, Kanshi Ram, other Dalit leaders and that of elephants – BSP’s election symbol – at parks in Luknow and Noida, adjoining Delhi.
The affidavit contended that it was Kanshi Ram’s wish that wherever his statues were installed, the statues of Mayawati, his only heir, must also be installed.
Providing budgetary allocation for executing work at parks in Lucknow and Noida, the state government stated that Rs 294 crore and Rs 203 crore have been allocated for the two projects respectively.
“Money has been sanctioned by the state government through budgetary allocations approved by the Assembly and every expenditure was authorised by the state legislature,” it said.
“The cultural department made provisions of Rs 194.2 crore in the financial year 2008-09 and Rs 100 crore in the year 2009-10,” it said in its 51-page affidavit.
The state government refuted that that the ‘stupa’ being built with other statues will cost Rs 500 crore.
“The cost of stupa is about Rs 203 crore and not Rs 500 crore as stated in newspaper reports,” the state government said.
The PIL filed by advocates Ravi Kant and Sukumar has alleged that state government was misusing the exchequer to glorify Mayawati by installing her statues. They said that statues of living persons should not be installed.
While referring to the apex court judgement, the affidavit said, “The judiciary must exercise self-restraint and eschew the temptation to encroach into the domain of the legislature or the administrative or statutory authorities.”
