On works related to the bridge leading to the Sant Ravidas temple in Har Ki Paidi, the high court of Uttarakhand expressed dissatisfaction at the negligence of the authorities concerned. The high court issued a bailable warrant against the Garhwal commissioner but later exempted him from appearing in the court personally on Tuesday in view of his involvement in preparations for the international day of Yoga programme to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dehradun on June 21.
According to the case details, Rajasthan resident Pukhraj and others had filed a public interest litigation in the high court stating that the steps constructed at Har Ki Paidi during the Ardh Kumbh Mela link the Sanjay bridge to the Ravidas temple. Construction of these steps had caused damage to the said temple and had also prevented the public from a darshan of the temple. The government had passed an order in 2016 following which steps are again being constructed near the temple at a cost of Rs 42.17 lakh. This is again causing damage to the temple and also amounts to misuse of government funds, averred the petitioners while seeking that this construction work be stopped. The division bench of justice Rajiv Sharma and justice lokpal Singh on Monday issued a bailable warrant against the Garhwal commissioner, directing him to be present personally in the court on Tuesday. However, later, the government advocate informed the high court that the Garhwal commissioner was busy with the preparations for the international day of Yoga programme in Dehradun which is to be attended by the prime minister on June 21.
Taking this into consideration, the high court exempted the Garhwal commissioner from being personally present in the court.