A new public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed in the Madras High Court to stall the ongoing work for the construction of a mausoleum for former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at the Marina here.
Advocate M.L. Ravi’s petition gains significance, in the light of cases filed last year having been withdrawn by a couple of litigants and the rest dismissed by the court early this month, when it directed the government to grant permission for laying to rest the mortal remains of DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi on the Marina.
Mr. Ravi had earlier filed an election petition in the High Court, challenging the victory of T.T.V. Dhinakaran from R.K. Nagar Assembly constituency last year. However, the petition got dismissed on the ground that he failed to produce evidence to prove the allegation of electors having been bribed heavily.
His latest PIL petition was listed before a Division Bench of Justices S. Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad, but the latter recused himself from hearing the case. Hence, the HC Registry was ordered to list the matter before a Division Bench led by Justice Huluvadi G. Ramesh. Incidentally, it was a Bench led by Justice Ramesh, which had granted permission for burying Karunanidhi’s body on the Marina and also dismissed a PIL petition filed by activist ‘Traffic’ K.R. Ramaswamy to shift all the mausoleums that had been constructed on the beach, so far to government lands near Gandhi Mandapam.
The PIL petition wanted the State government restrained from spending public money on construction of a mausoleum for Jayalalithaa.
If any money had already been spent for the construction, he wanted it to be recovered from the properties left behind by her.
He also sought an interim injunction restraining officials from carrying out the construction work till his PIL petition was disposed of.
In an affidavit filed in support of the petition, he claimed that Jayalalithaa was convicted in a disproportionate assets case and hence taxpayers’ money should not be used for her mausoleum.
The petitioner asserted that the practice of converting the second largest beach in the world into a grave yard should be stopped forthwith, since it cuts down the length of Marina.