The Supreme Court in the case Subramanya v. The State of Karnataka observed wherein the petition is moved against erection of the statue of former Suttur Seer Late Shri Jagatguru Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamiji at Gun House Circle, Mysuru.
The court in the case observed and has granted a granted interim relief in favor of petitioner-Subramanya, staying the unveiling of the statue on January 12.
In the present case, the petition was filed in the nature of a Public Interest Litigation, wherein it assailed the order of the Karnataka High Court of 02.01.2024, wherein the court interim relief against unveiling of the statue.
The High Court observed that that though the petitioners vehemently claimed that the statue was to be unveiled on January 4, no material was shown to support the contention.
The Supreme Court bench comprising of Justice BR Gavai, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Sandeep Mehta in the case observed and has found that the erection of the statue in a public place was contrary to the court’s earlier order dated 18.01.2013 in the case Union of India v. State of Gujarat.
The court stated that the government of States and/or Union Territories shall not grant permission for installation of any statue or construction of any structure in public roads, pavements, sideways and other public utility places.
Further, the unveiling of the statue has been stayed until further orders.
The court while considering the facts and circumstances of the case stated that the statue of Late Shri Jagatguru Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamiji was erected at Gun House Circle (near Mysore Palace) amidst objections from members of the Urs community, who claim that erection of the statue is against Supreme Court’s orders and has been done illegally.
Accordingly, the court listed the matter for further consideration on January 22, 2024.
The counsel, Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu; AOR M/s Dharmaprabhas Law Associates; Advocates Chandrashekhar A. Chakalabbi, SK Pandey, Awanish Kumar, Anshul Rai, Abhinav Garg, and Nagendra Nayak appeared for the petitioner.