Jabalpur3 hours ago
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Madhya Pradesh High Court has given a big decision regarding statues installed at intersections in the state. The court has said that after January 18, 2013, all the idols installed at intersections in the state will be removed. The court gave this decision on Thursday after hearing a petition filed regarding the statue of former Chief Minister Arjun Singh at TT Nagar intersection in Bhopal. The petitioner had said that traffic is affected by the idols. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on Bhopal Municipal Corporation and the state government. Out of this, the petitioner will get Rs 10,000.
A public interest litigation was filed in the High Court on behalf of social worker Grishma Jain, resident of Jabalpur. A hearing on this was held in the court on Thursday morning. A statue of former CM Arjun Singh has been installed at the square in front of Nanke Petrol Pump in TT Nagar. It was said in the petition that this statue has been installed after January 18, 2013. Then the Supreme Court had banned the installation of idols or statues in squares and public places across the state.
Hearing this petition, the court of Justice Sheel Nagu, while giving a strict decision, also reprimanded the state government and Bhopal Municipal Corporation. Asked the state government to remove the idols installed on roads, squares, public places in the state after January 18, 2013. Be informed about the action. Advocates Satish Verma and Lavanya Verma appeared for the petitioner Grishma Jain.
State government and Bhopal Municipal Corporation fined
The court has imposed a fine of 30 thousand rupees on the state government and Bhopal Municipal Corporation. In this, 10 thousand rupees will be given as compensation for defaming the petitioner. At the same time, 20 thousand rupees will have to be deposited in the Legal and Authority of the High Court. The High Court has imposed this fine on behalf of the government official and especially the Bhopal Municipal Corporation on presenting two different answers in the court. In case of non-deposit of 30 thousand rupees in 30 days, the petition will be taken up again before the court.
Court’s serious comment on the answer changed with the change of government
In December 2019, during the Congress government, while presenting the reply in the court on behalf of Bhopal Municipal Corporation, it was told that the idols are not a hindrance to the traffic. After this, after changing the government, in July 2021, it was said that these idols are a hindrance in traffic. Commenting on this, the court said that the government officials should have followed the law, which they did not. An attempt was made to mislead the court keeping the petitioner malicious. During the tenure of the two governments, different answers were presented by the Municipal Corporation.