Court orders TN Govt. to remove Sivaji Ganesan statue

Sivaji Ganesan statue
The Madras High Court has ordered the Tamil Nadu government to remove the Sivaji Ganesan statue, which was installed near the Marina Beach, some years ago.

More than five years after legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan's statue was installed on the Marina beach front, the Madras high court ordered its removal on Thursday.

A division bench comprising Justice Satish K Agnihotri and Justice K K Sasidharan directed the Chennai city police and other authorities to take decision on removing the statue as expeditiously as possible. The statue stands tall at the junction of Kamarajar Salai-Radhakrishnan Salai off the Marina.

"The court finds that there are materials to show that the statue obstructs traffic, as it is located on a public road which is meant for regular vehicular traffic," observed the bench. It also said that a public road should not be used for erecting such statues.

It then directed the authorities "to take a decision regarding removal of the statue as expeditiously as possible."

The bench was passing orders on a PIL filed by senior advocate R Gandhi who sought the removal of the statue on the ground that it obstructed traffic and put pedestrians' lives in danger.

In its response to the PIL, the city police too informed the court that it was indeed a traffic hindrance and was responsible for at least three road accidents, including one fatal incident.

The statue was installed during the DMK regime in 2008, after the high court declined to restrain the government from erecting it.

This is a big shock to the film fraternity, who had always maintained that late thespian should be given due recognition and the statue shouldn’t be removed from where it is now.

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