Gwalior: The Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday ordered removal of tiles bearing pictures of the prime minister and chief minister inside houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

As a result, the tiles with the PM and CM’s faces on display would be removed and such tiles will not be used in the future.

The court had issued notices to the state and central governments after a petition was filed in July by Sanjay Purohit, a resident of Datia.

The petitioner’s counsel claimed that the state government with these pictorial tiles has not only misused public money but has also tried taking advantage ahead of the polls.

The Centre had furnished a reply in the matter earlier while the state government produced a reply dated September 18.

In its reply, the state government admitted its mistake and instructed all the divisional commissioners to ensure tiles carrying pictures of PM and the CM are not used in the accommodations being built under the PM Housing Scheme.

Manju Sharma, additional commissioner, department of urban administration and development, had on April 4 issued an order for installation of tiles with the photos of the PM and CM on the entrance and kitchens of houses built under the scheme.

Ordering removal of the already fitted tiles within three months, the court also sought a report from the Madhya Pradesh government on December 20.

The Centre had earlier clarified that it had nothing to do with the decision to use photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The clarification was given in a written reply submitted to the Madhya Pradesh high court’s Gwalior bench early on September.

While responding to a tweet from Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha over the verdict, Digvijay Singh said, ‘The compliance date should be October 31 and December 20. Elections are due in November end. Must raise the issue before the court immediately.’