'Can they be installed on public roads?' Allahabad High Court raps Sultanpur DM over former MLA's statue

Allahabad High Court

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday asked the state whether a statue can be installed on a public road or land, and if it cannot be, then what is the procedure for removing or relocating it.

The court's query came on a suo motu cognisance of the installation of a statue of a former MLA on a public road in Sultanpur.

A bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Rajiv Bharti on Friday ordered the Sultanpur district magistrate to file an affidavit responding to its query, and posted the matter for hearing for November 25.

The matter was first raised in a public interest litigation, which was dismissed by the court, which said it may have been filed for political reasons.

The court later took suo motu cognisance of the matter, saying it frequently receives petitions seeking the installation or removal of statues on public roads or government land.

The matter pertains to a statue of former MLA Chandrabhadhra Singh, erected on a Public Works Department (PWD) road in Sultanpur.

The PIL alleged that since the statue was built on public land, it must be removed.

In compliance with the court's previous order, the state government on Friday submitted an affidavit stating that the Sultanpur municipality had installed two statues on PWD land.

When the court inquired about the process of removing the statues, it found nothing in the affidavit filed by the Sultanpur district magistrate.

Expressing displeasure at this, the court ordered him to submit a fresh affidavit detailing the process of installing and removing the statues on government land.

Meanwhile, the court has asked its office to make the Sultanpur municipality the opposing party and asked its executive officer as to under what rule, the statue of the former MLA was installed on a PWD land.