MUMBAI, July 2 -- The Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed several petitions challenging the decision of the Maharashtra government to set up a memorial to Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray on the site of the old Mayor's bungalow at Shivaji Park, Dadar. The plot reserved for the Mayor's bungalow fell under the Green Zone in the Development Control Regulations of 1991. It was re-zoned as 'residential use' under the Development Plan 2034 to accommodate the memorial. In 2017, several petitions challenging these decisions were filed in the high court. On re-zoning the land from 'Green Zone' to 'Residential Zone' without prior public notification or consultation, senior advocate Sunip Sen, appearing for one of the petitioners, submitted that the change had been effected in gross violation of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (MRTP Act). He further stated that there had been an illegal conversion of the municipal gymkhana (municipal house), a public amenity and historically accessible to public use, which could not be reserved for the residence of the Mayor. Senior advocate Dr Uday Warunjikar, representing another petitioner, submitted that the entire decision-making process for the memorial "suffered from gross arbitrariness and irrationality". The site as well as the manner in which the trust had been formed was "clearly illegal". "Therefore, the actions taken by the authorities for setting up the memorial should be set aside," he added. Opposing the court's intervention, additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan contended that the establishment of the memorial was in the realm of policy decision. The provisions of the MRTP Act had been observed while making amendments to the Development Plan, she said. Upholding the state's decision, the division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne said that the re-zoning of the land failed to reflect any procedural impropriety, and the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) had cleared the project, which fell under the CRZ-II zone. Therefore, there was no violation of environmental norms in setting up the memorial, the court ruled....