The Uttar Pradesh government has told the Supreme Court that illegal structures were demolished by its Kanpur and Prayagraj municipal bodies as per law and not related to punishing those involved in violent protests following remarks by two BJP leaders on Prophet Mohammad Were.
In an affidavit filed pursuant to petitions filed by Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, a Muslim body, the state government said, the said demolitions mentioned in the interlocutory applications have been carried out by the Local Development Authority, which is a statutory autonomous body, independent of UP urban planning and As per the Development Act, 1972, of the State Administration as per law as part of their regular effort against unauthorized/illegal construction and encroachment.
It states that none of the genuinely affected parties, if any, have approached this court regarding legal demolition proceedings. “It is humbly submitted that as far as taking action against persons accused of rioting is concerned, the State Government is taking strict action against them as per completely different laws – CrPC, UP Gangster, and Anti-Social Activities. (Prevention) Act, 1986 and Rules, 2021, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damage to Public and Private Property Act, 2020 and Rules, 2021, it said.
It stated that the fact that the construction was illegal has also been accepted by two builders in Kanpur. It pointed out that the apex court had recently in a writ petition filed by a political party in relation to the alleged demolition at Shaheen Bagh here, held that only the affected party and the political parties should not come forward and the petition should be allowed to be withdrawn. needed. High Court.
Further, it is submitted that even if any such alleged demolition action is to be challenged, the same has to be done before the High Court by the affected party and not this Court, the State Government said, making this strong exception. For the attempt by the petitioners to name the highest constitutional functionaries of the state and to falsely paint the legitimate actions of the local development authority targeting a particular religious community as additional legal punitive measures against the accused persons.
It said that all such allegations are absolutely false and this is vehemently denied and urged the court to apprehend the petitioner for the said false allegations without any ground before this court.
The UP government further said that the petitioner has wrongly chosen to link the two demolition works of illegal construction in the properties of one Ishtiaq Ahmed and one Riyaz Ahmed, which took place in Kanpur on June 11, 2022. riot; However, it failed to note that in both the cases, parts of the two illegal/non-compliant structures had occurred; That both the buildings were under construction and were not as per the permission granted.
It said that most importantly, proceedings under the Urban Planning Act against two buildings were initiated by the Kanpur Development Authority long before the incidents of riots took place in June 2022 – in one case in August 2020 itself, while the other, in February in 2022.
The state government gave details with a time-frame regarding the demolition exercise of properties of Ishtiaq Ahmed and Riyaz Ahmed, which was done after following due process under the law.
Thus perusal of facts shows that the two instances of removal of unauthorized illegal constructions in Kanpur by Kanpur Development Authority on 11th June were part of the ongoing demolition drive against encroachment and illegal constructions and had no connection with the riots as falsely was alleged. Petitioner, it said.
The state government said the petitioner Jamiat-Ulama-e-Hind has “deliberately obscured” the actual facts to paint a nefarious picture of the alleged malpractices on the part of the administration and that too without disclosing any facts on the affidavit. Similarly, it said that the petitioner, seeking relief, has chosen an instance of demolition in Prayagraj city in connection with the demolition of the house of Javed Mohammad on June 12.
The petitioner has failed to disclose the fact that proceedings under the Act and Rules of 1973 by Prayagraj Development Authority against the said person for illegal construction without any sanction, unauthorized use of residential land as an office, started long ago. it was done. incidents of riots, it said.
The state government said, the petitioner has attempted to give malafide color to the legal action as per established procedure by unilateral media reporting of certain incidents by the local development authorities and extrapolated the wider allegations against the same. State. What is presented is completely wrong and misleading.
On June 16, observing that “everything should be fair” and officials should strictly follow due process under law, the top court gave the Uttar Pradesh government and its officials three days to respond to the petitions. time, in which it was alleged that the recent violence at the houses of those accused was illegally demolished.
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