The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Sunday restrained the Uttar Pradesh government from taking any action on encroachment in the Maharajganj town of Bahraich following violence on Sunday last.
AMN / WEB DESK
In a major ruling the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Sunday restrained the Uttar Pradesh government from taking any action on encroachment in the Maharajganj town of Bahraich following violence on Sunday last. The court also granted 15 days time to the affected persons to respond to PWD notices. The Lucknow bench of the court said the persons concerned may file their responses to the notices within 15 days and directed the state authorities to consider the said replies and a pass reasoned order on those.
The court has fixed October 23 as the next date of hearing, till then the restriction will hold.
A division bench of Justice A R Masoodi and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, while giving the verdict on a PIL of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, said the entire matter would be investigated by October 23.
Notices were pasted on around 23 houses on Friday giving three days for the removal of the encroachment.
The entire day on Sunday was spent by the residents of the Maharajganj town under the Mahsi tehsil in fear of bulldozer action. The people remained scared throughout the day although no action was taken by the administration. On Saturday, they themselves were seen demolishing shops and houses, a trend which continued on Sunday too.
There is still peace in the Maharajganj town after the incident of stone pelting and the murder of Ram Gopal Mishra during Durga idol immersion on October 13.
The demolition notices were pasted on the houses of 23 people, including the main accused Abdul Hameed, after which there was panic in the town. However, the situation has changed in the last two days as shops have started opening. Many shops in the main market of the town remained closed on Sunday. Similar was the condition of the market situated in the streets inside the town.
Pleas in Supreme Court against demolitions
Meanwhile, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court to stop the proposed bulldozer action after the Bahraich violence. Through the petition, a demand has been made to cancel the notices given by the Uttar Pradesh government and to stop the bulldozer action. On receiving the notice here, people are evacuating their houses themselves and taking the goods to another place. There was a stir in the area after the notice was received from the PWD.
The petition has been filed on behalf of three named accused or family members of Bahraich violence. It has been claimed in the petition that the properties on which bulldozer action has been talked about are 10 to 70 years old and the owners of the properties are daily wage labourers and farmers by profession.