Uttar Pradesh Government locks horns with judiciary over name and shame posters

The Uttar Pradesh government under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath has defied orders of the Allahabad High Court after it decided not to pull down the ‘Name and Shame’ posters of the alleged rioters against the CAA in the state.

The collision between the U.P. government and the judiciary is quite evident with the fact that soon after approaching the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court order, the state has come out with a law The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on last Friday passed the 'Recovery of Damage to Public Properties Ordinance 2020' for recovery of losses due to damage to public property during violent protests.

The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. "Cabinet has approved the Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Ordinance, 2020 for effective prevention of loss of public property in the state," the state government tweeted in Hindi.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel on last Sunday (yesterday), promulgated the ordinance for recovery of damages to public and private properties from rioters and protesters and to provide for setting up of tribunals to adjudicate claims for damages and recover them.

It was promulgated four days after the Supreme Court refused to stay the Allahabad High Court's March 9 order for removing the state government's name-and-shame posters displaying photographs and names of the alleged rioters involved in damaging properties during in anti-CAA protests in December last year.

The Supreme Court questioned the Uttar Pradesh government for putting on display the personal details of anti-citizenship law protesters to “name and shame” them. The Justice U.U. Lalit led-three-judge bench asked the UP government: "The wrong-doer must be brought to book. But can the state go beyond that?"

The very fact that the matter was sub-judice in the apex court and in the meantime, the state government passed this act, is seen as a direct collision with the judiciary.

Senior Advocate KTS Tulsi is all critical of the Uttar Pradesh government. He says “Article 21 of the Indian Constitution lays down that nobody can be deprived of his life and liberty except with the procedure prescribed by the law. We can’t have a procedure which is so oppressive that infact the constitutional rights are completely denigrated. To me it appears that the previous action was completely unconstitutional because there was no procedure followed as the chief minister does not have the power to declare somebody a criminal, there has to be a trial by a competent court in accordance with the procedure that has been prescribed.”

Tulsi adds “I think that the judgement of the Allahabad High Court was perfect and in Supreme Court, they have not waited for the judgement and enacted a law. The act is also unconstitutional as it violated the Article 21 of the constitution and in my opinion, it will also be struck down by the court”

Vishwa Vijay Singh, General Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) terms this as ridiculous. He says that Yogi Adityanath wants to run the state as his ‘Mutt’ in Gorakhpur and he is defying the High Court which passed orders against these posters and also the Supreme Court which refused to stay the order of the Allahabad High Court. He adds that it is not the duty of the government to hold anyone guilty of rioting and the onus of holding anyone guilty or not is the prerogative of the court. Singh says that the BJP is step by step smothering all independent institutions of the country and this move is against the judiciary of the country.

Senior journalist and former editor of the Times of India, Ambikanand Sahay sees this move of the Uttar Pradesh government as direct conflict between the executive and the judiciary. He says that the concept of collective fine was prevailed in the British era and in today’s India, the court of law which includes the High Court and the Supreme Court should be respected by any and all state governments. He adds that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, on one hand accepts the verdict of the court in the Ram Mandir issue as it suits the party and on the other hand goes against the courts in matters that are not fit for it politically.

Poster War Breaks Out in Uttar Pradesh

A fierce poster war has broken out in the state soon after the Uttar Pradesh government failed to remove the ‘Name and Shame’ posters after the orders of the Allahabad High Court. Former BJP leader I.P. Singh, who is in Samajwadi Party now, put up hoardings in Lucknow with pictures of BJP leaders, former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand and disqualified BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar. The poster titled “ye hain Pradesh ki betiyon ke aaropi, inse rahe savdhaan”. Lucknow police was quick to act by removing the posters from the site.

The Congress party also came with its posters in various parts of Lucknow having pictures of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, former BJP MLA Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, MLA Sangeet Som, M.P. Sanjeev Baliyan, MLA Umesh Malik, MLA Suresh Rana and M.P. Sadhvi Pragya. The poster said that criminal cases are pending against all these BJP leaders and was titled – “Janata Maange Jawaab – In Dangaaiyon Se Wasooli Kab?

Lucknow police, again was quick to act and pull down these hoardings. Morevoer, a criminal case was registered against two Congress activists, Sudhanshu Bajpai, Lalu Kannojia and also the owner of the printing press who made this hoarding. Sudhanshu Bajpai was also arrested in this matter.

Is Yogi Adityanath losing his charm?

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been one of the star campaigners of the BJP in the country. But is his stock value falling? The BJP lost 15 of the 26 constituencies where Chief Minister Yogi had campaigned in Rajasthan, 17 in Chhattisgarh – which he had referred as ‘nanihal’ (maternal grandmother’s home) of Lord Ram and promised the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya in almost all his speeches he made in the state – and all of the eight seats in Telangana – where he had delivered speeches and promised change of names of cities such as Hyderabad and Karimnagar to Bhagyanagar and Karimpuram, respectively.

In the recent Delhi Assembly elections, Yogi Adityanath campaigned for the saffron party in Patparganj, Kirari, Mehrauli, Saurabh Vihar, Jahangirpuri, Karawal Nagar, Rohini, Badarpur, Hari Nagar, Vikaspuri, Uttam Nagar, Tughlaqabad, Dwarka. Of these 13 seats, the BJP managed to win just two seats – Badarpur and Rohini. This shows that his strike rate is falling by the day.

On Ground Work of Uttar Pradesh Government in Three Years

Soon after assuming the office of Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath had said that five districts – Gorakhpur, Meerut, Agra, Varanasi and Kanpur would be cities having metro rail facility. But after the passage of almost three years now, nothing much has been done so far.

The state saw a much-hyped investor summit and later a ground breaking ceremony. But the state is yet to get major investors putting money and industry in the state. Leaving the cities of Gautam Budh Nagar (Noida) and Ghaziabad, all major cities of the state still lack industrialisation. Action is seen missing on the ground.

A government which has time and again said that it has zero tolerance towards corruption, has not been able to manage this front well. After the EFP scam, scams have been reported from Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited. The electronic meters bought by the state government were found to be sub-standard and had to be returned.

Law and order, is another front where the BJP before coming to power in the state was quite critical of the previous Samajwadi Party regime. Till date, law and order in the state is not up to the mark. Though Commissionerate system of policing has been recently introduced in Gautam Budh Nagar and Lucknow but even in these two districts, crime continues unabated and citizens are not feeling safe.

With just two years left for the state to face another Assembly elections in 2022, challenges are galore for the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath government to improve the governance in all fields before it goes to ask for votes from the electorate.