NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, AUG 1
Stating that the petitioners have come directly, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a PIL against the Tamil Nadu government’s planned offshore memorial for late DMK patriarch and former chief minister Dr Kalaignar M Karunanidhi.
Dismissing the petition, a bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia, said, “Let us make it clear that if this is a political petition, the Supreme Court is not the forum to fight your political battles. Fight it elsewhere. And if this is about environmental concerns, why cannot the NGT (National Green Tribunal) hear it? Why should everything come directly to the Supreme Court? We are not going to entertain it directly.”
Senior counsel Siddharth Dave, who appeared on behalf of some of the fishermen who had challenged the proposed ₹81-crore, 42m-tall ‘Muthamizh Arignar Dr Kalaignar Pen Monument’ 360m off the Bay of Bengal coast, on grounds of environmental damage and loss of livelihoods.
Dave argued that the PIL has been filed by the fishermen to enforce their fundamental right to livelihood, and therefore, the plea can be directly maintained before the apex court. He contended that the proposed erection of the statue over half an acre of reclaimed sea would spell disaster for the ecosystem and environment and will cause long-term damages.
However, the bench was not convinced. “If it is about fundamental rights, why cannot the high court hear it? It is, after all, a local issue. And our view is that if the issue concerns a local matter, it must go to the jurisdictional high court first if the high court is competent to take it up. If it is an environmental issue but a local one, you go to NGT. We are not going to call all the matters from high courts just because an argument of fundamental right is made,” the bench told Dave.
Representing the DMK government, senior counsel P Wilson submitted that the plea before the top court is a politically motivated petition, being fought in the garb of fishermen’s livelihood. Wilson added that not only is the NGT seized of the issue, but the state government has also secured a Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ) clearance and other approvals for the ‘Pen Monument’.
Wilson further said that objectors to the proposal have stayed away from public hearings even as the state government carried out the consultation process, as required under the relevant regulations.
