HC halts Bahraich demolitions, grants 15 days for replies

In a major relief to those who have been served notices for demolition of illegal structures raised on the Kundasar-Mahasi-Nanpara-Maharajganj road in Bahraich, the Allahabad High Court on Sunday extended the time to file their replies by 15 days.

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 replies and pass a reasoned order on those.

The bench has fixed 23 October as the next date of hearing in the matter.

A bench of Justices A R Masoodi and Subhash Vidyarthi passed the order on a public interest litigation (PIL) plea filed by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights.

On the petitioner's plea, the special bench was constituted on Sunday, 20 October, and it passed the interim order, halting the state authorities' preparation to demolish the illegal structures as soon as possible.

According to TNIE, three people who were allegedly involved in violence filed for urgent relief and claiming that the properties for which notices have been issued are 10-70 years old.

The plea has contended that the Uttar Pradesh government issued the demolition notices illegally and its action to initiate the demolition drive violates the Supreme Court's recent directives, banning bulldozer action except in certain cases. The Supreme Court directed that the house of an accused person cannot be demolished simply because he stands accused of a crime.

On behalf of the state government, Chief Standing Counsel (CSC) Shailendra Kumar Singh argued that the PIL was not maintainable.

After hearing the matter, the bench said, "Leaving all the aspects of the matter open, what pricks the conscious of this court is the issuance of notices to submit the reply within a short span of three days. As to what number of houses situated on kilometre-38 of the Kundasar-Mahasi-Nanpara-Maharajganj district road have been duly authorised for construction is also not much evident from the notices, which may require clarity."

"Without observing anything on the merits at this stage, as already observed, we grant three days' time to the CSC to obtain complete instructions," it added.

"The position as to the category of the road and norms applicable may be clarified on the next date," the court said.

It said it is expected that those who have been served the notices will participate in the proceedings in the meantime.

"We further provide that in case they file their replies to the notices within a period of 15 days from today, the competent authority shall consider and decide the same by passing a speaking and reasoned order, which shall be communicated to the parties aggrieved," the court added.

Ram Gopal Mishra (22) of Rehua Mansoor village died of a gunshot wound he suffered on October 13 during a communal face-off in a village in Bahraich district over music being played during a procession.

Notices were served to 23 establishments, including 20 belonging to Muslims, in the area by the public works department (PWD).

The PWD carried out inspections in the Maharajganj area on Friday and took measurements of 20-25 houses, including that of Abdul Hamid, one of the men accused in Mishra's killing.

The notices were served under the Road Control Act, 1964.