Madhya Pradesh HC orders removal of tiles bearing PM Modi, CM’s photos on houses built under PMAY

The Gwalior bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court (HC) on September 19 ordered the removal of tiles bearing pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inside houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) by December 20.

Following the HC order, the tiles with the PM and CM’s faces on display would be removed and such tiles will not be used in the future.

Order also stated that only the logo of the scheme would be used on the tiles hereafter.

The HC had issued notices to the state and central governments after a petition was filed in July by Sanjay Purohit, a resident of Datia arguing that houses were built using public money and not by electoral benefits.

Advocate Ankur Modi said that a division bench of Justices Sanjay Yadav and Vivek Agrawal directed the government to file a compliance report in this regard by December 20.

The Congress party had earlier demanded removal of these tiles, alleging that it was a plot of the BJP government to influence voters ahead of the year-end Assembly elections.