‘Sivaji’ to quit Marina by November 16

On Wednesday, the Madras high court observed that with technology now available to remove massive structures, the authorities should remove the statue within a fortnight. However, following a request by an official, the court granted time till November 16 for the authorities to take action.

Originally, Nagarajan of Triplicane had filed a petition before the court seeking a directive to the authorities to remove the statue and install it at an alternative place. On January 23, last year, the court ordered that the authorities should take a decision regarding the removal of the statute as expeditiously as possible. As this was not done, the petitioner filed a contempt petition.

When the petition came up before a Division bench comprising Justices Satish K.Agnihotri and K.K. Sasidharan, the government advocate sought time to comply with the court order.

Not convinced with the government's submission, the court ordered that the Secretary, Highways, appear before it. Accordingly, the official, Rajeev Ranjan came to the court and sought more time stating that a decision in the matter had to be taken by involving various departments.

To this, Justice Agnihotri observed that with improved technology available at present to shift even huge structures, the authorities should comply with the order in a fortnight. However, after the official sought some more time, the Bench ordered that the court's directive should be implemented before Nov. 16.

Senior counsel R. Gandhi said the matter had been pending for more than a year and court order must be complied with at the earliest. Later, the Bench adjourned the matter to September 19.