Bombay HC questions location of Thackeray memorial

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Monday questioned the state government about its decision to build a memorial for late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray at the mayor’s bungalow in Dadar.

“What made you to take the decision of allowing the particular memorial (Bal Thackeray) to be built in the place of mayor bungalow but not any other memorials,” the court asked.

The court asked this after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC)  counsel pointed out that the state government has made an amendment in section 29 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, and accordingly an ordinance was passed by the state in favour of constructing the memorial.

The court also asked the BMC and the state to explain how they had leased an area of 11,551 sq m, for the construction of a memorial at a nominal rate of `1 per annum. The court has asked the state to file an affidavit and kept the petition for hearing next week. Bal Thackeray died on November 17, 2012.

A division bench of Justices Naresh Patil and Rajesh Ketkar was hearing two public interest litigations (PIL), which are opposing the construction of the Thackeray
memorial at the mayor’s bungalow. The petitions stated that the state’s decision to allow the BMC to give a government bungalow to be converted into memorial is contrary to a Supreme Court judgement, which restricts such conversion. The petitions also stated that if such a memorial is constructed at all, it must be funded by the followers of Thackeray not by taxpayer’s money.

Pradip Havnur, the lawyer of the first petitioner, argued that, “The Supreme Court in its judgment noted that no government residence should be converted to a memorial and state government in its earlier reply didn’t utter a single word about that”.

BMC counsel Anil Sakhare argued that the land and structure of the mayor bungalow belongs to the BMC and the state government, after amending the relevant section in the BMC Act, directed the civic body to proceed further.