Lucknow, Mar 24 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday directed the Lucknow Municipal Corporation to take immediate action on the illegal encroachments surrounding the District and Sessions Court (old High Court campus) in Kaisarbagh.
The Lucknow bench of the high court has sought a report by April 7 on the action taken.
The division bench of justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Rajiv Bharti passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Advocate Anuradha Singh, Advocate Devanshi Srivastava and her mother Arunima Srivastava.
The petitioners have challenged an FIR registered against them by Advocate Sujit Kumar Balmiki under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The petitioners stated that Balmiki’s senior, Shravan Kumar (an advocate), has illegally set up his chamber near their house and that ruckus is created there after consuming liquor once the court closes in the evening.
When the petitioners object, serious altercations often take place. The petitioners alleged that this was the reason a false report had been filed against them, even though they had already filed an FIR on the same day of the incident.
Taking a serious view of the matter, the court restrained the police from taking any action against the petitioners on the basis of the FIR and directed the police to conduct an impartial investigation and submit a report in the matter.
In the course of hearing of this case, it came to light that the old high court premises had been subjected to haphazard illegal encroachment. This encroachment includes not only lawyers’ chambers but also permanent structures housing photocopy and typing shops and even food and beverage outlets.
The court expressed displeasure over this and had called a report from the municipal corporation. The municipal corporation submitted its report stating that approximately 72 encroachments were found in the area and most of which were lawyers’ chambers and some were illegally constructed shops.
The municipal corporation informed the court that it would be necessary to first issue notices to remove the encroachment and after this, action would be taken with the help of the police and the district administration.
At this, the court said that generally notice is necessary in case of authorised constructions, but in cases of illegal encroachment, immediate action can be taken and the law should be strictly followed.
The court directed municipal corporation that if the encroachers do not receive the notice, it be posted at the site and published in widely circulated Hindi and English newspapers.
The municipal corporation was also ordered to submit a detailed report of the steps taken by the next hearing. PTI COR NAV ZMN
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