New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court Monday ordered the removal of hoardings in Lucknow that targeted those protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha also directed the district magistrate and the Lucknow police commissioner to submit a report in this regard by March 16.
The hoardings and posters displayed the names, addresses and photos of those accused of violence during anti-CAA protests.
The high court took suo motu cognizance of the matter Saturday and issued a notice to the Lucknow district administrator and divisional police commissioner seeking an explanation on the laws that the administration relied on to put up the hoardings across the city.
The court heard the matter Sunday at 3pm, when it observed the action by the Lucknow administration as being unjust and an “absolute encroachment on personal liberty of individuals”.
Authorities in Lucknow had Friday put up posters and hoardings of those accused of violence during protests in the state against the controversial citizenship law on 19 December. Besides details of the protestors, the hoardings also contained a warning that if they did not pay for the damage caused, their properties would be attached.
The posters and hoardings have also created a stir as they include some prominent names including that of social activist and former IPS officer S.R. Darapuri, Congress leader Sadaf Jafar, theatre personality Deepak Kabir, Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas and Sibtain Noori, the son of another Shia cleric, Maulana Kalbe Sadiq.
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