More than a month after the Tamil Nadu government unveiled its phoenix-shaped memorial for former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Indira Banerjee on Monday said that, in her personal opinion, she is not in favour of constructing a memorial on Marina Beach.
The first bench consisting of CJ Indira Banerjee and Justice PT Asha was hearing a petition filed by activist ‘Traffic’ Ramasami and advocate Duraisami. In their petition, they had claimed that the memorial is being built on land that comes under Coastal Regulation Zone norms and that the state government has to obtain the approval of the Central government to build the memorial.
In response to this petition, Vijay Narayan, the Advocate General of Tamil Nadu, argued that the state government had in 1987 obtained all necessary approvals for the construction of the 4600-square-feet memorial for MGR, the former CM. Since the memorial for J Jayalalithaa is going to be constructed within that area, there is no need for separate approvals, he argued.
The Chief Justice went on to say that even if something is against her principles, she would follow the law and pass orders based on its legal merits. The bench then observed that if the memorial is being built ignoring the CRZ norms then it would have to interfere and pass appropriate orders.
Further, the bench directed the petitioners to submit evidence for their claims and posted the case for the next hearing on June 25. The court also ordered the government to submit the site drawings of the memorial.
The foundation stone for a phoenix-shaped memorial for J Jayalalithaa was laid on May 7. It will be constructed alongside the memorials of her mentor and former CMs MG Ramachandran and CN Annadurai. The structure, shaped like Phoenix, will be built at a cost of Rs 50 crores.