BMC, Maharahstra govt seek dismissal of PIL against Balasaheb Thackeray memorial

Maharashtra government as well as the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have told the Bombay High Court that the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against the building of late Shiv Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray's memorial should be dismissed.

The affidavit for Maharashtra government has been filed by Sanjay Gokhale, deputy secretary urban development department. Gokhale in his affidavit stated that the PIL is not maintainable as it does not show cause of action against the state and so it should be dismissed and the petitioners should be made to pay cost for filing such petitions.

Both the affidavits of state and BMC state that the decision to build a memorial of the late Shiv Sena leader was taken after careful deliberation. A high-level committee had been set up for the same in 2014 and only after various site inspections that it was decided that the mayor's bungalow which is a heritage structure was best suited for the memorial.

It was in January last year that Maharashtra government formally endorsed the plan and sent a letter to the municipal commissioner to act upon it. For this the state government also brought in an amendment to the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act. The BMC also passed a resolution to convert mayor's bungalow into a memorial and hand it over to the Balasaheb Thackeray Rashtriya Smarak Samiti (BTRSS).

Gokhale in the affidavit said that the allegations levelled by the petitioners is wrong and that the state urban development department has not issued any orders for release of funds for development of the memorial. The BMC's affidavit has been filed by Parag Masurkar, assistant commissioner (estate) who has said that an area of 11,551 sq metre is to be allotted to the memorial.

The state government ordinance specifies that the land has to be allotted on a lease of 30 years at nominal rate with premium of Rs 1.

A PIL had been filed by activist Bhagwanji Raiyani stating that it is in violation of the 2013 Supreme Court (SC) verdict and a circular issued by the Centre in 2014. Raiyani, in his petition, stated that no memorial of any leader can be allowed in government bungalows.