The high court has ordered a lawyer-petitioner to stipulate as to how the proposed installation of three statues at a traffic junction in northern Bengaluru would violate the rules.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has built the statues of Basaveshwara, Shivakumara Swami and Dr Rajkumar at the Sandal Soap Factory junction on Dr Rajkumar Road near Yeshwantpur but hasn’t unveiled them yet.
A V Amarnathan, a city-based lawyer, filed a PIL petition in the high court, contending that the erection of statues at the intersection would not only violate existing rules but would also cause traffic jams on Dr Rajkumar Road, which leads to a national highway.
In July, the court barred the authorities from erecting any statue at the place without its approval.
In a statement of objections to the petition on Monday, the BBMP stressed the statues were built in a traffic island, not on any part of the road or a designated park.
The BBMP had passed resolutions about erecting the statues at its council meetings in January 2018 and July 2019. The civic body also stated that it didn’t violate the Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act.
But when the petitioner argued that a Supreme Court order also prohibits the erection of statues, a division bench led by Chief Justice Abhay S Oka directed him to place the SC judgment by next hearing.
