The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought a response from the Union and the Delhi governments on a plea filed seeking permission to erect a statue of former South Africa president Nelson Mandela on a road named after him in the national capital.
A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V Kameswar Rao sought to know the stand of the ministry of urban development and ministry of external affairs (MEA) on the plea by the Honorary Consul of Republic of South Africa through senior advocate Rupinder Singh Suri.
The plea has sought directions to the authorities to permit putting up the statue of the anti-apartheid icon on the Nelson Mandela road in Delhi.
The application was initially moved in 2016 in the Supreme Court, which was hearing a matter with regard to encroachments of public spaces by religious structures, before the BRICS summit in the city as the South African government wanted to unveil Mandela’s statue during the event.
However, in January this year, SC had transferred the main matter to various high courts to ensure compliance of its direction to prevent encroachments of public space by religious structures and to deal with any other development connected with it. In the application, the Honorary Consul of South Africa -- Vikramjit S Sahney -- contended that despite all requisite clearances from the various civic bodies, the ministry of urban development was not allowing it to put up the statue.