The state government was ordered by the Bombay High Court on Friday to provide an explanation of its stance over the grant of heritage status to Savarkar Sadan, the former home of Hindutva theorist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in Shivaji Park. The directive was given during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) brought by the self-described public policy think tank Abhinav Bharat Congress before the division bench of justices AS Chandurkar and Dr. Neela Gokhale.
HC to State: Unambiguous stance on Savarkar Sadan’s heritage tag
HC to State: Unambiguous stance on Savarkar Sadan’s heritage tag
The PIL, filed in view of the imminent razing of the building for a redevelopment project, seeks heritage status and “monument of national importance” tag for the building, alongside a special compensation policy for its inhabitants.Pankaj Phadnis, a representative of the Abhinav Bharat Congress, presented the court with a letter from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s deputy municipal architect from 2012. According to the letter, a notice asking public comments and objections was sent after the under-secretary of urban planning accepted a proposal in 2009 to add Savarkar Sadan to the heritage list.
According to the letter, the suggestion was subsequently forwarded to the principal secretary; however, no further notification was given.According to a May 5 HT story, Savarkar Sadan, which has a small museum on the ground floor devoted to Savarkar, might be demolished since certain property owners are negotiating with a constructor to renovate the land. For the reconstruction project, two nearby plots are probably going to be combined.
One plot overlooks Shivaji Park, while the other contains Laxmi Sadan, the former home of famous classical vocalist Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki. “…the petitioner was startled to see a report in a prominent newspaper about imminent demolition of Savarkar Sadan quoting three reliable sources,” the petition said, citing the HT report.In its ruling on Friday, the court stated that “the status of the said property shall not be changed and the position as prevailing today shall be maintained.”
Source: Hindustan Times
