PIL filed to stop statue unveiling

PIL filed to stop statue unveiling


A craftsman giving final touches to Thiruvalluvar's new statue in Ulsoor on Wednesday.
Express News Service & Agencies First Published : 06 Aug 2009 09:55:40 AM ISTLast Updated : 06 Aug 2009 10:00:42 AM IST
BANGALORE: Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha leader, Vatal Nagaraj and others have filed a Public Interest Litigation against the unveiling of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar’s statue, at Ulsoor on August 9.
The petitioners have requested the High Court to stay the unveiling of the statue as the state government is doing so when the code of conduct for the by-elections is in force.
They further stated, that the government has not obtained the BBMP’s permission for unveiling the statue nor has it completed the formalities required for unveiling a statue in public place. The state government has not obtained the necessary permissions according to Karnataka Town and Contry Planning Act, Karnataka Park, Play Ground and Open Space Preservation and Regulation Act.
The petitioners have also stated that there is a water dispute between the two states and the judgement has been given against Karnataka.
There is a case against granting classical language status to Kannada in the Chennai High Court.
Under these circumstances there will be unrest in the society if the statue is unveiled. The politicians are doing a gimmick to influence vote banks and ignoring public interest. The chief ministers of both states are made the respondents in the case.

KRC to EC: Statue will influence polls
A section of Kannada Rakshana Vedike (KRV) activists on Wednesday, petitioned the Election Commission against the state government’s plan to unveil the statute of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar in Bangalore on August 9.
The group, which has been opposing the installation of the statue, said that the government’s move will influence the August 18 bypoll in Govindarajanagar Assembly segment in the city. The government should be stopped from unveiling the statue, since the model code of conduct is in place, it said in a its petition to Chief Electoral Officer C S Suranjan. Officials in the CEO’s office said that there was “no change” in the EC’s stand. The government had been given permission to go ahead with the programme.