SC Of The View That Mayawati Should Pay Back The Public Money Spent On The Statues
Image Credits: NDTV, NDTV
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The Supreme Court on February 8, Friday said that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, who was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh between 2007- 2012 should reimburse the money for installing statues during her tenure. The bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi prima facie said, “We are of the tentative view that Mayawati has to deposit the public money spent on her statues and party symbol to the state exchequer”.

The bench’s view came while hearing a petition filed by an advocate. In the plea, the petitioner had advocated that the public money cannot be used for constructing personal and party symbol statues for propagating the political party.


Several statues made

During her term, Mayawati’s government had built multiple Dalit memorials, including statues of BSP founder Kanshi Ram and BSP’s party symbol which is an ‘elephant’. According to The Indian Express, Over Rs 2,600 crore of the exchequer was spent to build memorials and statues in Lucknow, Noida, and a few other places in the state.

The bench also comprising of justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjeev Khanna made it clear that it is the tentative view of the court and posted the matter for final hearing on April 2.

According to a complaint from the vigilance department, the state had suffered losses of close to Rs 111 crore because of such constructions, reported The Indian Express. Following which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to investigate the matter. Earlier, on January 31, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had raided at six locations across Uttar Pradesh in connection with the Rs 1,400 crore memorial scam which happened during BSP chief Mayawati’s tenure.

In the memorial scam, former ministers Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Babu Singh Kushwaha, along with as many as 197 others, were indicted by the UP Lokayukta for ‘wrong-doings’ in purchasing sandstone in Lucknow and Noida for Dalit memorials during 2007 to 2012, which was Mayawati’s regime.


The Logical Indian Take

Politicians building statues for themselves and for the benefit of their party is not new but if the Supreme Court’s final judgment asks to payback the money, it will be a welcome judgment. A state like Uttar Pradesh which doesn’t have basic necessities like education, water, healthcare and infrastructure, spent Rs 2600 crore to build statues. It shouldn’t be to the whim of the politicians to build statues to fulfil their egos and they should be fined if they do so.

Also Read: UP: ED Conducts Multiple Raids Over Mayawati-Era Rs 1400 Cr Memorial Scam

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Editor : Ridhima Gupta Gupta

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