Plea in HC seeks to restrain govt from spending money for constructing Jayalalithaa's memorial

A public interest legislation has been moved in the Madras High Court seeking to restrain the Tamil Nadu government from spending public money for constructing a memorial for former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

The plea moved by Desiya Makkal Katchi president ML Ravi also wanted the court to recover any public money spent by the government so far for the memorial at Marina.

When the plea came up for hearing today before a division bench of justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad, the latter recused himself from hearing the case as he was the additional advocate general for Tamil Nadu in the Supreme Court before his elevation as a judge.

The plea was then referred to Chief Justice VK Tahilramani for listing before a different bench.

According to the petitioner, the state had proposed to construct a memorial for Jayalalithaa at an estimate of Rs 50.8 crore at the Marina which falls under the coastal regulatory zone and is a tourist place.

On May 7, Chief Minister E Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam laid the foundation stone for the memorial's construction. Land of over two acres was barricaded for the construction work which would be carried out using government machinery, he said.

Ravi claimed he had made representation to the chief secretary that taxpayers' money should not be used for construction of her memorial as she was convicted by the Supreme Court in the disproportionate assets case. The conviction was abated since she died, he added.