The Allahabad Excessive Court docket on Sunday granted 15 days to a piece of residents of Maharajganj village in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district to answer the demolition notices served on them by the Public Works Division (PWD) within the wake of communal clashes within the space final week.
Earlier, the residents got solely three days to answer, sustaining that the failure to answer the notices throughout the stipulated time will result in the demolition of buildings and the price of eradicating these shall be recovered from their house owners.
A particular division bench of Justices Subhash Vidyarthi and A R Masoodi constituted on Sunday night handed the interim order whereas listening to a petition filed by the Affiliation for Safety of Civil Rights (APCR).
The petition contended that the state authorities issued the notices illegally and its motion to provoke the demolition drive violates the Supreme Court docket’s latest directives, banning bulldozer motion besides in sure instances.
The PWD notices had been pasted on 23 buildings, together with 20 belonging to Muslims, on Friday after it was alleged that they had been concerned within the violence, which claimed the lifetime of a youth, Ram Gopal Mishra, 22.
The notices said that no construction was permitted inside 60 toes from the centre of the foremost district highway in rural areas with out prior approval, directing them to supply the documentation of permission for building inside three days or take away the buildings on their very own.
The bench, which listed the matter for listening to on October 23, stated, “Leaving all of the points of the matter open, what pricks the conscience of this court docket is the issuance of notices to submit the reply inside a brief span of three days. As to what variety of homes located on kilometre-38 of the Kundasar-Mahasi-Nanpara-Maharajganj district highway have been duly authorised for building can be not a lot evident from the notices, which can require readability.”
“With out observing something on the deserves at this stage, as already noticed, we grant three days’ time to the chief standing counsel to acquire full directions… We additional present that in case they file their reply to the discover inside a interval of 15 days from at the moment, the competent authority shall take into account and determine the identical by passing a talking and reasoned order…,” it added. – With PTI INPUTS
