KOCHI: In a major setback to the Kerala Students’ Union (KSU) unit of Maharaja’s College which opposed the construction of a memorial for M Abhimanyu, an SFI leader who was stabbed to death a year ago, the Kochi Corporation has found the memorial does not come under the purview of Kerala Municipal Building Rules. Hence, there was no need to obtain prior permission from the civic body to construct the memorial.
The Corporation, which is also a party in the case filed before the High Court against the construction, is likely to file a report in this regard on July 11 before the HC. “As per the report submitted by the superintending engineer, no building permit is required for the memorial set up at Maharaja’s College. Since the construction is not a building, the Kerala Municipal Building Rules are not applicable,” said a source.
The memorial snowballed into a major controversy after KSU approached the HC alleging that the memorial was built in violation of building rules. “The report said no one takes permission for constructing a statue or a memorial in the city,” said the source.