The State government on Wednesday denied allocating funds from the state exchequer for constructing a memorial for former Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
The government made the statement in an affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court through its Urban Development Department (UDD). The affidavit signed by UDD secretary Sanjay Gokhale reads: “I deny that respondent No. 1 [State government] has misused its executive and administrative powers for allotting the mayor’s bungalow to the BMC [Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation] and that it has sanctioned ₹100 crore from the public treasury.”
The State government also denied allegations of misuse of powers to favour the BMC by allotting a plot for the memorial at a nominal rate. The affidavit was filed in compliance with a court order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s 2015 proposal to construct the memorial on the plot in Dadar where the mayor’s bungalow now stands.
The PIL was filed earlier this year by activist Bhagvanji Raiyani, who alleged that the move violated a previous apex court order and a circular issued by the Centre that prohibits the conversion of government bungalows into memorials.
The PIL said that if the memorial is constructed, it must be funded by Bal Thackeray’s followers and not using taxpayers’ money.