Chennai: The statue of legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan can enjoy the Marina beach breeze only till May 18 this year. When a contempt petition filed by Nagarajan of Triplicane came up for hearing before the first bench of Madras high court comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M. Sundar, it directed the state government to shift it by May 18 instead of its earlier deadline of October 15, 2017. The additional advocate general informed the bench that the government has taken the decision to shift the statue by May 18.
Recording the statement, the bench said “the time schedule submitted before us must be adhered to. We hope the authorities will not give any cause to us to revive the petition and take a more stringent view of the matter. Contempt petition closed.”
The statue was unveiled by the then chief minister M Karunanidhi on July 21, 2006. Originally, P.N. Srinivasan, a social worker, filed the writ petition for the removal of the statue as it was located in the middle of Kamarajar and Radhakrishnan Salai junction, opposite to Gandhi Statue thus affecting the line of sight of motorists.
On January 23, 2014 the high court said that the court finds there are materials to show that the statue obstructs traffic, as it is located on a public road which is meant for regular vehicular traffic and directed the state government to take a decision regarding removal of the statue as expeditiously as possible.
Stating that there was no response from the Government, Nagarajan, son of Srinivasan, filed the contempt petition claiming that the authorities did not take a decision as per the orders of the High Court.
Meanwhile, the then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa announced on the floor of the State Assembly on May 26, 2016 that a memorial would be built to the legendary actor near Adyar and the statue would be shifted to that memorial.
The government allotted 65 cents of land for the construction of the memorial.
On Tuesday, the additional advocate general informed the bench that the work relating to the construction of the memorial is going on and the statute would be shifted by May 18. Recording this, the bench closed the contempt petition.
