The Supreme Court on Friday was informed by the state of Uttar Pradesh that the State Government had constituted tribunals to try protesters who caused damage to public property during the agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the state.
The Apex Court was told this when the bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah was hearing a plea that sought quashing of notices sent to these protesters. The bench directed Senior AAG Garima Prasad to file a counter-affidavit with regard to her submission.
AAG Garima Prasad told the Court during the course of the hearing that after the filing of the instant petition certain developments have taken place in the form of legislation which has been enacted by the State Legislature, in pursuance of which tribunals have been constituted.
The court said, “No action shall be taken in pursuance of the notices in the meantime and list the matter for further hearing on July 23, 2021.”
The Court was hearing the plea filed by Parwaiz Arif Titu through Advocate-On-Record Nilofar Khan alleging that notices have been sent to protesters in Uttar Pradesh in an “arbitrary manner” against a person, who had died six years ago at the age of 94 and also to two others who are aged above 90.
The petitioner has sought stay on these notices claiming they have been sent to persons who have not been booked under any penal provisions and no details of FIR or any criminal offences have been made out against them.
The petitioner had on the last hearing submitted that the procedure which is being followed by the State of U.P. does not conform to the guidelines which are enunciated in the decisions of the Apex Court in Re: Destruction of Public and Private Properties vs. Govt. of A.P. and Kodungallur Film Society vs. Union of India. It has been urged that though the State is purporting to follow a decision of the learned Single Judge of the Allahabad High Court in Mohammad Shujauddin vs. State of U.P. in Writ -A No 40831 of 2009 decided on 9 July 2012, the above judgment specifically directs that steps should be taken for compliance with the judgment of the Apex Court in Re: Destruction of Public and Private Properties (supra).
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The plea also sought direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to follow the procedure as per the 2009 and 2018 guidelines of the apex court while claiming damages to recover the losses caused to public property during such protests.
Further, it sought directions for setting up an independent judicial inquiry to probe into the incidents which happened during the protests against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens in Uttar Pradesh, as has been done by the Karnataka High Court.