MADURAI
A public interest litigation petition filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday sought a direction for installation of new stone statues of Marudhu brothers at their memorial in Kalayarkoil in Sivaganga district.
The petitioner, A. Nagarajan of Sivaganga, said the Marudhu brothers – Periya Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu – fought against the British during the freedom struggle. As a tribute to the brothers, their descendants and people of Kalayarkoil observed guru puja from October 24 to October 27.
In 1964, the villages got together to construct a memorial and installed stone statutes of the freedom fighters inside the memorial. The memorial was renovated in 2007 and a compound wall was constructed around it. The statues that were installed decades ago were now damaged.
A representation was made to the Sivaganga Collector for the installation of new statutes, and since there was no response from the Collector, the High Court Bench was moved in 2017.
The court directed the Collector to consider the plea. However, the Collector said only bronze statutes could be installed. The petitioner had sought a direction for the grant of permission to instal new stone statues for the freedom fighters.
A Division Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Sathish Kumar directed notice to the district authorities and adjourned the case for further hearing.
