Mumbai: The state government Thursday justified its decision to allocate Rs 100 crore for the proposed Bal Thackeray memorial while replying to a PIL filed in the Bombay high court.
The government told the court that it had discretionary powers to make such a provision, and the allotment for the memorial was well within its powers. The government also argued that its decision to allot land or money for a monument could not be questioned in court.
When the PILs, challe-nging the decision to convert the mayor’s bu-ngalow at Shivaji Park into a museum, came up for hearing Thurs-day, the petitioners sou-ght the court’s permission to amend their pr-ayers in the petition as they also wanted to challenge the governme-nt’s decision to allot Rs 100 crore for the project. The decision to allot the money was taken earlier this week.
Advocate Pradeep Havnur, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the amount could be used for other important issues that the state was facing.
Advocate Uday Warunjikar, who also appe-ared for one of the petitioners, claimed that the entire machinery was being mobilised for a private individual.
Senior counsel Milind Sathe, appearing for the government, opposed the petitions, saying it was the state's discretion how much land or money should be allotted for a memorial. “Whether a person deserves a memorial or statue is up to the state government. Such state actions cannot be questioned in a court of law,” Mr Sathe said.
