A City Civil and Sessions Court in Bangalore on Monday ordered issue of notice to the State government on a suit seeking a permanent injunction against altering or changing the superstructure of Vidhana Soudha by Ministers or officials.
The 9th Additional City Civil and Sessions judge, Krishnamurthy B. Sangannavar, passed the order after hearing a suit filed by Robert Antony, Jayakumar Hiremath and others, while complaining about two recent instances of demolition of walls inside Vidhana Soudha on the instructions of two Ministers.
The plaintiffs pointed out that walls between room number 304 and 305 on the third floor of the building were demolished on the instruction of Forest Minister B. Ramanath Rai in June 2013, and walls between 340 and 341 were demolished on the instruction of Social Welfare Minister H. Anjaneya.
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Claiming that the building was a monumental structure, the plaintiffs contended that in the recent past, the Ministers had been issuing directions to demolish to widen rooms as per their “whims and fancies”, ignoring the importance of the building. Contending that demolished walls were “load-bearing structures”, they stated demolition would damage the building built around 60 years ago.
While seeking a direction for reconstruction of demolished walls, the plaintiffs sought an injunction restraining the government from allowing Ministers and officials to change the superstructure of the building in future.
Mr. Rai and Mr. Anjaneya have also been arraigned as defendants in the suit.
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Though the plaintiffs’ advocate Dharmapal pleaded for granting ex-party interim injunction, the court did not grant interim order while ordering emergent notices to the defendants.