Lakshmi Bai a national hero, don’t play communal politics through court: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declared Maharani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi a “national hero” and criticised the Shahi Idgah Managing Committee for making “scandalous pleadings” in their petition against the installation of her statue in Shahi Idgah Park at Sadar Bazar.

The court condemned the committee for attempting to inject communal politics into a matter that should be celebrated as a point of national pride.

Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said the statue represents women’s empowerment and should transcend religious divisions.

The court had dismissed the committee’s appeal, which aimed to prevent the statue’s installation, stating that it lacked legal basis and contained divisive language against a previous ruling by a single judge.

The Bench added that the committee’s actions appeared to be driven by communal motives and warned against dragging the court into such issues.

It demanded a written apology for the inappropriate language used in the pleadings, urging the committee to refrain from using the court as a platform for communal politics.

In response, the committee’s counsel apologised, saying that there was no political motivation behind the plea and clarified that the land in question did not belong to the committee.

The Delhi Government’s counsel noted a troubling trend of harsh language in legal pleadings, suggesting that people are not respecting the court’s authority.

The Bench ordered the deletion of objectionable paragraphs from the committee’s pleadings and scheduled a follow-up hearing for September 27.

The single judge had previously rejected the committee’s plea, which argued that the park was a Waqf property, stating that the committee had no legal right to oppose the installation of the statue or the management of the surrounding parks by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).