The statue of actor Sivaji Ganesan on Kamaraj Salai did not in any way cause a hindrance to the free flow of traffic, said Nadigarthilagam Sivaji Samooganala Peravai (Sivaji Ganesan social welfare organisation).
In an application before the Madras High Court, seeking to implead itself in the writ petition filed in 2006 against the installation of the statue on the artery at Radhakrishnan Salai junction, the organisation president, K. Chandrasekaran of Moolakkadai, said in Chennai, several accidents occurred due to drunken and rash driving, bad road conditions and improper signals.
He was referring to the police’s version that accidents occurred because of hindrance caused by the statue.
Statues of E.V. Ramasamy, C.N. Annadurai, M.G. Ramachandran and Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar have been on Anna Salai for several years. Those structures have not caused any hindrance to vehicular movement.
Sivaji Ganesan’s statue was erected in 2006. At the Radhakrishnan Salai junction, there was a clock tower and a national emblem. The height of these two structures was more than that of the Sivaji statue. Under these circumstances, it was clear the Sivaji statue did not cause any hindrance to traffic.
Just because there was a change in the ruling party in the State, the government’s policy decision should not change. When the writ petition, filed by P.N. Srinivasan of Chitlapakkam (since deceased), was filed seven years ago, the advocate-general had said the Sivaji statue would not hinder free movement of vehicles. (Srinivasan was later substituted by P. Nagarajan of Triplicane.)
On Friday, the First Bench comprising Chief Justice R.K. Agrawal and Justice M. Sathyanarayanan allowed the impleading petition. It also ordered the case be transferred to another Division Bench for hearing on December 17.
