HC seeks Centre response to plea seeking Nelson Mandela statue

New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and Delhi government to respond to a plea seeking permission to put up a statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela on a road named after him in the city.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao asked Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Urban Development and Delhi government to file their replies on the application by the Honorary Consul of Republic of South Africa through senior advocate Rupinder Singh Suri.

In the plea, senior advocate Suri has sought directions to the authorities to permit putting up the statue of Mandela on the Nelson Mandela road in the national capital.

A similar application was filed by Vikramjit S. Sahney, the Honorary Consul of South Africa in the Supreme Court in 2016, which was hearing a matter related to encroachments of public places by religious structures, before the BRICS summit in the city.

Sahney has told the court that despite all requisite clearances from the various civic bodies, the Ministry of Urban Development was not allowing it to put up the statue.

In January, the apex court transferred the matter to high courts directing them to deal with issues related to any other development connected with it.