The Bombay High Court on Wednesday decided to hear arguments over the mid-sea Shivaji memorial after its summer break. The decision came after the state government failed to amicably settle the dispute with the architect of the memorial.
A division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice Anil Menon heard a petition by Team One Architects India Pvt Ltd. whose design was selected when Ashok Chavan was Chief Minister. The architects challenged the government’s decision to go for fresh tenders. Early this year, the government had accepted a new design by JJ school of Architecture principal Rajiv Mishra.
The state Public Works Department (PWD) filed an affidavit in the court on Monday stating that it had decided to junk the old design plans on the grounds that the new plan would incorporate more features in the same space.
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The firm's senior advocate, Janak Dwarkadas, argued that the government was spending the taxpayers’ money to invite fresh tenders after expressing to his clients and other international bidders that only the winning design would be followed while constructing the statue.
At the last hearing the court had asked the parties if they could resolve the matter amicably. On Wednesday, the division bench recorded the submissions of the state that the dispute couldn't be resolved and kept the matter for hearing when the court re-opens in June.
The bench also questioned how Team One’s prayers for interim relief could be granted. They had prayed that only their design and no other be used.
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The court asked the architect how they could claim monopoly over the entire project to which the architects’ lawyer replied that they had been granted monopoly. The court told the architects that they had the right to claim damages from the state.
The affidavit states that the new design could incorporate a marine aquarium, a Maratha library and a dolphin pool. The height of the statue itself has also been increased in the new plan from 94 metres to 190 metres.