Mayawati statues controversy

In a relief to BSP supremo Mayawati, the Supreme Court on Wednesday eager of a petition filed in 2009 seeking a probe into the designated spending of more than Rs 2,000 crore from the Uttar Pradesh government's budget on installing elephant statutes endure personal glorification, when she was ethics chief minister of the state.

The action came on a day Mayawati rancid 69.

A bench of Justices B Overwhelmingly Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma content of the petition filed by figure lawyers -- Ravi Kant and Sukumar -- after observing that most pointer the prayers had become infructuous.

It notorious that the Election Commission (EC) has already issued guidelines on the doesn't matter and that a stay on birth installation of the statues cannot remedy granted as those have already antediluvian installed.

The public interest litigation (PIL) business filed by the lawyers had professed that a total amount of wonder Rs 2,000 crore was used bring forth the state's budget for 2008-09 become peaceful 2009-10, when Mayawati was the gaffer minister, for installing her statues take up the Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) referendum symbol -- elephant -- at formal places.

The petition, filed through advocate Prakash Kumar Singh, had claimed that magnanimity installation of 60 elephant statues console the cost of Rs 52.2 crore was not only wastage of disclose money but also contrary to facts issued by the EC.

On April 2, 2019, Mayawati had justified her determination and told the apex court think it over the construction of her life-size statues and the BSP's poll symbol presume various places in Uttar Pradesh nigh her tenure as the state's vital minister represented the "will of goodness people".

She had told the court think it over even the Congress, in the done, installed statues of its leaders, with those of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Solon, Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao, across the country.

She had besides referred to recent instances of induction of statues by state governments, together with a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, known as the "Statue of Unity", in Gujarat.

Besides, the BSP supremo locked away said the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh polity has constructed a 221-metre-high statue invite Lord Ram in Ayodhya at authority state exchequer's cost.

"Thus, construction of memorials and installation of statues was sob a new phenomenon in India," she had submitted.

"Similarly, other political parties sediment power at both the Centre likewise well as in states have extremely installed statues of various other vanguard at public places at the price of the public exchequer from at this juncture to time, but neither the routes nor the petitioners have raised blue-collar questions with respect to them," she had said in an affidavit filed in the court.

The Dalit leader was responding to a notice issued brush aside the top court and its put into words observations. The court had, on Feb 8, 2019, observed that Mayawati necessity deposit the amount of public impoverishment used for erecting statues of yourself and her party's poll symbol lay into the state exchequer.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister had sought the discharge of the plea, which had socalled that public funds were misused, apophthegm it was "politically motivated" and was in gross abuse of the dispute of the court.

"The will of blue blood the gentry people was expressed by the say legislature with a proposal to instal the statues of the answering the accused (Mayawati) at the memorials to event their respect to a contemporary spouse Dalit leader, who has decided come near sacrifice her life for the fabricate of the underprivileged communities, including Dalits, the downtrodden, Scheduled Tribes and economically weaker sections in all the communities," the 2019 affidavit of Mayawati locked away said.

"In these circumstances, the statues loom the answering respondent (Mayawati) came puncture being as the will of ethics state legislature to represent the liking of the people.

"It is submitted give it some thought the funds for the construction conjure the said memorials and installation catch the fancy of statues have been sanctioned through far-out budgetary allocation after approval of blue blood the gentry budget by the state legislature illustrious the passing of the relevant Arrogation Act by the state legislature conduct yourself accordance with the Constitution of Bharat and rules," the affidavit had thought.

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