Maya agrees to stay statue drive

The Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday incurred the wrath of the Supreme Court for reportedly going ahead with construction of statues in violation of its order and agreed to stop further construction till the court decides on the matter.

The Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday incurred the wrath of the Supreme Court for reportedly going ahead with construction of memorial in violation of its order and agreed to stop further construction till the court decides on the matter.

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A Bench of Justices B N Agrawal and Aftab Alam was initially inclined to restrain the construction but relented and recorded an undertaking from Uttar Pradesh government that no further construction would be done at the site untill the matter was decided by the Court.

During the hearing, the Bench wondered whether it is legally permissible for any government to incur colossal expenditure from public exchequer for constructing such memorials.

Brushing aside the state government's contention that the project estimated around Rs 2,600 crores had the cabinet approval, the apex court said it would examine the legal validity of the decision.

The court granted the state government time till September 24 to file its reply and posted the matter for further hearing to September 29.