In a special sitting being held on Sunday, the Allahabad High Court pulled up UP government authorities for putting up of banners containing photographs and details of persons accused of ‘violence’ during anti-CAA protests at Lucknow, Live Law reported.
The bench comprised by Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha said that the state action of putting up the posters of alleged CAA Protestors was “highly unjust” and that it was an absolute “encroachment” on personal liberty of the persons concerned, the Live Law report adds.
The Lucknow administration had put up hoardings at major cross-sections in the city, with details of more than 50 people including activist Sadaf Jafar, human rights lawyer Mohammad Shoaib, activist and former IPS officer SR Darapuri who have been issued recovery notices for their involvement in CAA protests on December 19, 2019.
The court observed that “good sense should prevail on the State and it must remove the hoardings before 3 pm and apprise the court about this at 3”.
As many as 57 persons have been identified in separate hoardings that have come up in the Hazratganj, Thakurganj, Hasanganj and Qaiserbagh police station areas.
According to Live Law, a government spokesman said the posters have been up on the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s directive at important intersections.
The names, photographs and residential addresses of the accused were listed in the hoardings, triggering those named fear for their safety.
The protesters have been asked to pay for the damage to public and private property within a stipulated time or have their properties seized by the district administration. The total damage listed in the hoardings amount to ₹1.55 crore.
