SC refuses to interfere with Bombay HC order on Shivaji statue

The Supreme Court declined to intervene in a Bombay High Court order directing the removal of a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue from Mormugao Port Authority land in Goa. Petitioners withdrew their plea, with liberty to seek relief before the high court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has declined to intervene in a Bombay High Court order directing the removal of a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue from land owned by the Mormugao Port Authority in Goa.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Justice Sheel Nagu was hearing a plea challenging the high court’s April 7 order, which had directed the statue’s removal, saying it had been constructed illegally and installed in gross violation of local laws.

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The petitioners, Rajendra Laxman Parab and others, withdrew the plea, considering the apex court’s disinclination to interfere with the high court order.

“Counsel appearing for the petitioners seeks to withdraw the present special leave petition (SLP). Permission is granted,” the order said. “The SLP is, accordingly, dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to file an appropriate application before the high court and seek variance of the impugned order,” the order said.