Allahabad High Court
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday reprimanded the Uttar Pradesh government in the Baraich district bulldozer case. The Lucknow bench has taken the action as despite issuing directions on Sunday regarding issuance of demolition notices, no reply has been filed yet. Did the justices express displeasure that state officials failed to understand the spirit of the order?
The Lucknow bench noted that it had asked Chief Standing Counsel (CSC) Shailendra Singh to obtain all directions regarding categories and standards applicable to roads. But objections have been raised over the maintainability of the PIL. The bench asked the CSC to file objections on the substance of the PIL in the court registry and postponed the hearing to November 4.
“Illegal issuance of demolition notice”
A bench of Justices AR Masoodi and Subhash Vidyarthi passed the order on a PIL filed by the Civil Rights Protection Association. While hearing the PIL on Sunday, the special judge extended the time given by the Public Works Department to the affected people to respond to the notice from three days to 15 days.
As a result, the district government’s preparations to demolish the suspected illegal buildings came to nothing. Meanwhile, during Wednesday’s hearing, the state’s lawyers raised objections to the merits of the PIL. The judge reacted strongly and asked whether the state authorities failed to understand the spirit of the previous order passed on Sunday.
In a previous order, the bench had asked the CSC to obtain directions on the categories and norms applicable to the roads. The judge stressed that all aspects of the case would be considered in addition to the merits of the hearing. It was held in the PIL that the demolition notification issued by the state was illegal.
Violence breaks out during Ram Navami march
The PIL said the demolition was in violation of recent Supreme Court directions. Bulldozer operations have been banned except in limited circumstances. Furthermore, the court also sought information on how many houses have been constructed on “km 38” of the Kundsar-Mahsi-Nanpara-Maharajganj road and what rules apply on the road.
The court said it did not respond to these factual questions and raised objections only to the substance of the hearing. Ram Gopal Mishra during a communal clash while performing songs during the Ram Navami procession in a village in Balaich district on October 13 Shot to death.
Also Read – Man who demanded Rs 5 crore ransom from Salman Khan arrested for selling vegetables in Jamshedpur
Following this, the Public Works Department (PWD) issued notices to 23 properties in the area, 20 of which belonged to Muslims. The PWD inspected Maharajganj area on Friday. There he measured 20-25 houses, including those of Abdul Hameed, who was accused of Mishra’s murder.
