Allahabad High Court orders removal of posters naming, shaming anti-CAA protesters
The Allahabad High Court on Monday ordered the removal of posters naming and shaming the anti-Citizenship protesters in Lucknow. The hoardings put up on Thursday by the Lucknow administration had pictures and names of retired IPS officer SR Darapuri, Congress worker Sadaf Jafar, who were booked and sent to jail. The order was pronounced by a bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha.
The matter pertains to violent protest that took place against the new citizenship law on December 19 in Lucknow last year when public and private properties were damaged and set on fire by the rioters.
The administration assessed the damage to be worth Rs 1.55 crore in Parivartan Chowk and the old city area.
The court, which had on March 7 taken suo motu cognisance of the issue, on Sunday had termed the move "highly unjust" and said it was an "absolute encroachment on personal liberty of individuals".
The posters bearing photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests had come up at major road crossings in Lucknow late on Thursday night on the directions of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official had said.
In Lucknow, around 50 people were identified by police as alleged rioters and were served notices. The posters said the property of the accused will be confiscated if they fail to pay compensation.
During the hearing on Sunday, the Uttar Pradesh government had asserted that it was a "deterrent" action and the court should not interfere in such a matter.
As the bench rose, it expressed hope that "good sense would prevail" on the state and it would remove the hoardings before 3 pm and apprise the court about this at that time. The court then reserved its order till 2 pm on Monday.
(With PTI inputs)
