A Report Maya gets jolted by judiciary

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati is facing a double whammy at the moment because of the Supreme Court’s and state’s Allahabad High Court’s reprimand to the state government in the matter of memorials in Lucknow and Noida and the multi-crore Taj corridor scam. The Supreme Court has ordered to stop the work on the memorials in Lucknow and Noida. The apex court of the country rapped the state government for its whimsical working style in the related matters. The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court has summoned the Chief Minister and her cabinet minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui in the controversial Taj corridor case. These three matters are in the limelight in the social and political arenas of Uttar Pradesh. Almost all political parties and some active social organisations are opposed to this type of extravagancy by the state government. The Supreme Court observed that when the GDP rate of UP is hardly 2 per cent, it is totally illogical to spend Rs 2700 crore on memorials only in the capital. The court bluntly said that it is not only a legal matter but also a matter of judicial review.

The Supreme Court Bench comprising justices BN Agrawal and Aftab Alam said that the issue of memorials involves many thorny points of public finance and whether money from public exchequer could be spent on such memorials.

The state counsel Mukul Rohtagi told the court that it is a matter for the government and the legislature to decide whether and where to make a park or a memorial. The state assembly has passed the budget for the memorials and it is, therefore, totally legal, he added. The Supreme Court reacted sharply and said, if a legislature endorses a decision of the government that 80 per cent of the public exchequer be spent on such things, is such a decision not amenable to judicial review? The court further said that it does not matter whether the decision has been passed by the cabinet or the legislature, as both stand on the same footing when their legality is examined

On the issue of Taj corridor case, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court sought Mayawati’s and her cabinet minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui’s reply on a PIL contending that the Governor’s sanction was not necessary for their prosecution. The Division Bench comprising justices Pradeep Kant and Shabibul Hasnain said that it was prima facie satisfied that issues raised in PIL filed by Kamlesh Verma and others required serious considerations.