UP chief secretary says sorry to SC

Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief secretary Atul Kumar Gupta apologised to the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday for defying orders to stall the construction of memorials to and statues of chief minister Mayawati and other Dalit leaders at the tax payer’s expense.

The belated but unconditional apology came on the eve of his personal appearance on Wednesday before an SC bench that’s hearing a PIL seeking an end to the misuse of a whopping Rs2,600 crore for putting up life-size statues of the late Kanshi Ram, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP’s) founder, the party’s poll symbol ‘elephant’ and Mayawati.

Gupta’s problems began after he failed to stall the project, as justices HS Bedi and JM Panchal put it, under pressure from Mayawati. The judges will consider his affidavit, which concedes disobedience, on Wednesday.

The court had earlier warned the Mayawati government against “playing with fire” and also unmasked her design of treating the court’s proceedings and its orders in the same manner as she treats the opposition in the legislative assembly, that is, with disdain.

The judges also warned the BSP government that if it did not stop the construction, it could roll the ball in the Centre’s court, implying that the UPA government would then be free to invoke Article 355 and impose President’s rule. They also observed last month that they could “send the chief secretary to jail if repeatedly our orders are violated”.