'Absolute encroachment on personal liberty': Allahabad HC pulls up UP govt after Yogi puts up banners of CAA protesters

'Absolute encroachment on personal liberty': Allahabad HC pulls up UP govt after Yogi puts up banners of CAA protesters

The court has reserved the judgment for 2 pm on March 9, Monday.

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Sunday, March 08, 2020, 08:36 PM IST
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(ANI Photo)

Days after Uttar Pardesh's Yogi Adityanath-led Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government put up banners with photographs and addresses of the people who protested the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Allahabad High Court has slammed the government's move calling it "highly unjust" and "absolute encroachment on personal liberty of individuals".

Taking suo motu cognizance, the court filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and convened a bench headed Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha. They summoned District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash and Commissioner of Police Sujeet Pandey for response at 10 am on Sunday.

Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha asked the DM and CP to explain the law under which the hoardings were put up. Since the advocate general (AG) Raghvendra Singh could not reach the court on time to respond on the government behalf, the court deferred the hearing to 3 pm with hope that “good sense would prevail” on the state to remove the banners.

When the court was convened at 3 pm, the AG disputed the court’s jurisdiction. He said, “Since the hoardings were put up in Lucknow, the principal seat of HC in Allahabad had no jurisdiction to take up this matter suo motu.”

Chief Justice Mathur responded that the High Court has jurisdiction over matters concerning the entire state. The Bench further said that this aspect would also be clarified in the judgment to be pronounced in the matter.

The Advocate General also argued that the hoardings were put to deter others from indulging in violence with an objective to maintain law and order. He also submitted that the PIL is meant for those who follow law not for those who break laws.

The court reserved the judgment for 2pm on March 9, Monday.

The banners were not removed till Sunday evening.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also lashed out at the Yogi governement on Sunday. She said that UP's BJP government has started thinking themselves above the constitution made by Babasaheb Ambedkar. She wrote in Hindi, "The attitude of the BJP government of UP is such that the head of the government and the officials following his footsteps have started thinking themselves above the constitution made by Babasaheb Ambedkar."

"The High Court has told the government that you are not above the Constitution. Your accountability will be fixed," she added.

Earlier, the UP govt in Lucknow put up roadside banners with photographs of people asked to pay compensation for damage to public property during anti-CAA protests, triggering outrage among those being named and shamed. The 27 anti-CAA activists includes Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas, retired IPS officer SR Darapuri and Congress leader Sadaf Jafar, among others.

The banners came up at major road crossings in Lucknow late on Thursday night on the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official said.

They bear photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during protests in December against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

(The story has been updated with inputs from Kanchan Srivastava)

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