PANAJI
The Goa government has less than a week to identify an alternative site for the relocation of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue, whose unauthorised installation on Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) land at Sada triggered a controversy and prompted the authority to seek judicial intervention.
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has directed that the matter be placed before it next Tuesday, by when the site be identified.
“...The relocation of the statue in question to an appropriate place. The new location could be identified by the next date of hearing. The police force would then be provided for the relocation of the statue. List the matter on Tuesday for further orders,” the Division bench of Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice Amit Jamsandekar said while pronouncing the order on Thursday.
Earlier during the hearing, Advocate General Devidas Pangam submitted that the State would discuss the matter with the MPA and identify a suitable site.
The MPA, however, indicated that the site should first be identified before a timeline for relocation is fixed. “The AG may identify the site first as expeditiously as possible, following which the timeline can be decided,” the MPA submitted. “We will identify the site,” Pangam assured the court as he further added, “they want their land to be free. We have no objection. They are entitled to have it free.” The Bench noted that it respected the statue, but stressed that the issue was also about maintaining law and order. “We all have reverence for the statue, but there has to be law and order. There was a collapse of the system and the police did not act (on previous occasions),” it observed.
