The High Court on Monday asked the state government to shift the Ambedkar statue from the Vidhana Soudha premises immediately. “We won’t give you even a week’s time to shift it,” the court said.
The court also ordered a hand summons to Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) managing director N Sivasailam and directed him to appear before it on Tuesday for not filing a statement of objection on the delay in shifting the statue.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Advocate A V Amarnath following the state government’s interlocutory application seeking two month’s time to study a technical report on safely shifting the statue. A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Sreedhar Rao and Justice B V Nagarathna asked the government, “Did you ask for a technical report while shifting the statues of Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose? Why are you asking for it now? The court had given 15 days’ time to shift the statue but you have not shifted it.”
The court also issued a contempt notice to the government and BMRCL for not shifting the statue in connection with a petition filed by Amarnath seeking action for “willfully disobeying” the December 12 court orders.