Yogi govt responds strongly to Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind's plea against Demolitions in UP,says THIS in SC

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Government has responded strongly to Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind's plea and told the Supreme Court that recent demolitions of properties carried out in the state were done following due process and were in no way related to subsequent action against persons accused of rioting. The Yogi Adityanath government has taken action against rioters as per a different set of statutes, the UP government informed the highest court.

"It was only after due service and providing adequate opportunity under Section 27 of the Act that the illegal construction was demolished by the Prayagraj Development Authority on 12.06.2022 after following due process of law and the same had no relation to the incident of rioting, " the UP Government said in its affidavit.

The reply from the UP govt came in response to Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind's application against the recent demolition drive in Uttar Pradesh. In its affidavit, the Uttar Pradesh government urged the Court to dismiss Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind's application, saying that it is ''without merit.''

Blaming the petitioner for cherry-picking just one instance of demolition of the house of one Javed Mohammed in Prayagraj, the UP government said the process against that alleged unauthorised construction had been initiated much prior to incidents of rioting.

Uttar Pradesh government stated through an affidavit that in so far as taking action against the persons accused in rioting, the State government is taking stringent steps against



them in accordance with a completely different set of statutes.

Countering the allegation levelled by petitioner Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, the UP government said that the applicant organization has merely hand-picked certain media reporting relating to demolitions to make unfounded allegations against the State machinery and its officers, and seeks sweeping omnibus reliefs unfounded in either law or fact.

UP government also accused Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind of attempting to give a mala fide colour to lawful action taken by the local development authorities as per the procedure established by law by cherry-picking one-sided media reporting of a few incidents and extrapolating sweeping allegations from the same against the State.

Last week, the Supreme Court sought the response of the Uttar Pradesh government on pleas by Jamiat-Ulama-I-Hind and also asked the administration to follow the process of law for carrying out the demolition of alleged unauthorised structures. Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind has filed an application seeking to issue directions to the State of Uttar Pradesh that no precipitative action be taken in the state against the residential or commercial property of any accused in any criminal proceedings as an extra-legal punitive measure.

The application by the organization Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind has also urged the Court that any demolition drive that the authorities are planning to carry out in Kanpur District should be stayed during the pendency of the instant writ petition.