Mayawati May Have To Return Public Money Spent On Her Statue: Supreme Court Indicates Tough Stance Against BSP Chief

In what can be seen as an indicator of a coming major setback for Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi has taken the tentative view that she would have to deposit the public money spent by her government in constructing statues of herself and of the elephant, which is a symbol associated with her party in Uttar Pradesh, reports Business Standard.

The statues had come up at public parks in cities like Lucknow and Noida. The bench was hearing a plea from an advocate arguing that public money could not be spent on erecting statues promoting one’s own politicaly party.

“We are of the tentative view that Mayawati has to deposit the public money spent on her statues and party symbol to the state exchequer,” the bench remarked.

The three-member bench, which also consists of Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjeev Khanna, has scheduled the matter’s final hearing on 2 April. The court clarified that it had stated its tentative view in consideration of the fact that the next hearing may take some time.