On Friday, the Telangana high court directed Khammam district collector to remove a statue of Mother Teresa installed at the Mutualamma circle in Hyderabad within the next ten days.
According to the reports, a division bench of the Telangana High Court headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili ordered the district authorities to remove the controversial statue of Mother Teresa based on a petition filed by the Hindu activist organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) questioning the installation of the statue.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)’s district general secretary Allika Anjaiah had filed a petition saying the installation was done without proper permission from the authorities. Allika had sought a contempt of court against authorities for disobeying the Supreme Court’s guidelines.
The SC guideline says that states shall not grant permission to install any statue or erect any structure on public roads, pavements and sideways and other public utility places. Despite the order, the authorities had granted permission to erect the illegal statue, the petition said.
The VHP leader contended that some persons had tried to erect a cross symbol without proper permission. However, following the high court’s direction, the construction of the cross symbol was stopped, but instead of that, a statue of Mother Teresa was being installed, the petitioner informed.
Hearing the plea, the High Court ordered the collector to remove the unauthorised statue within the next ten days.