Another salvo against Ambedkar memorial: This time a PIL

This time questions have been raised against an Act passed by the Government to legally ensure that there is no financial or administrative confusion in the maintenance of this memorial, irrespective of which political party is ruling the state.

A public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the constitutional validity of the Act has been filed before the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court. In August last year, UP Dr BR Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal Ordinance was promulgated and was replaced by an Act in December.

The petitioner, National Alliance of People’s Movement (NAPM), through its national convenor Sandeep Pandey, has urged the court to declare the Act null and void. Besides, the petitioner has requested the court to recover the money spent on the memorial from the chief minister and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

“That would have made people remember these leaders with more reverence,” he said.

The case was filed on July 9, but the government is yet to file a reply. Additional Advocate General Jaideep Narain Mathur said: “Since the Act has been challenged in court and the petitioner has termed it as unconstitutional, we are examining it legally to see if all provisions in the Act are in accordance to the Constitution.”