The civil court will start its hearing today on the application filed by noted historian Pandurang Balkawade against the removal of Dadoji Konddeo's statue from the Lal Mahal premises.

Joint Civil Judge S P Dorle has admitted two applications from corporators Ujjwal Keskar and Ashok Yenpure, who have objected to the removal of the statue. The remaining 28 applications have been filed by various individuals and organisations in support of the PMC.

Balkawade filed the application on December 25, in which he has raised several objections to the resolution passed in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on removal of the Dadoji statue.

Balkawade said the resolution passed by the PMC itself is violating the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations (BPMC) Act of 1949 (see box). Balkawade had moved the court and requested it to put a stay on this resolution. However, the PMC removed the statue in the wee hours of December 27, evoking violent protests from the opposition Shiv Sena and BJP.

On behalf of Balkawade, Advocate Girish Shinde argued that the third-party applicants have no right to intervene in the dispute. Keskar and Yenpure argued in their plea that the civic body had executed the resolution to shift the statue to PL Deshpande garden before the administration could confirm the minutes.

The PMC will file its say today giving its reasons for its decision. Earlier, the PMC was granted additional time to file its say, as it had requested that it was unable to collect references and other documents in a short period.