Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta appeared in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to tender an apology for allegedly violating its orders on the construction of statues of Chief Minister Mayawati and other Dalit leaders.

A Bench of Justices H S Bedi and J M Panchal, however, dispensed with the personal appearance of the chief secretary in future hearings.

In an affidavit, the chief secretary has said that he was tendering an unqualified apology if there was any kind of disobedience or deviation in complying with the court directions.

The apex court also granted three weeks time to petitioner Mithilesh Kumar Singh and NGO Gomti Nagar Sanstha to file their responses on the UP government’s plea to vacate the stay imposed on construction activities, which were being carried out at an estimated cost of Rs 2,600 crore.

On September 8 and 11, the court had stayed all construction activities at the project sites. It had also issued contempt notice to the chief secretary for allegedly defying its order and going ahead with the construction. He was also asked to personally appear before the court.

It was following this direction that Gupta appeared before the court and submitted a 52-page affidavit tendering an apology. The matter has been posted for further hearing on November 30.