Prayagraj (ILNS): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has asked the state Government to file an affidavit indicating the steps taken by the government to rehabilitate the lawyers whose chambers were demolished in the tehsil Sadar of Lucknow district on November 16.
“He may specifically state in the counter affidavit if any scheme for rehabilitation of the lawyers is under preparation and if the Government is ready and willing to construct new building for the chambers of the lawyers and to allot them to the lawyers of Tehsil Sadar giving priority to the lawyers, who are already occupying chambers in the existing campus,” reads the order.
The Division Bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Manish Kumar has passed this direction while hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by several Lawyers whose chambers has been demolished without any prior notice.
In the PIL, it was stated that lawyers of tehsil Sadar were allowed to build chambers and occupy them. All of a sudden, 34 chambers were demolished on November 16 and about 74 chambers still exist. The said exercise was done without any notice or without providing any opportunity of hearing. No order of any competent authority directing for the demolition of the chambers was produced and placed before any lawyer.
“Learned Standing Counsel is not in a position to assign any reason as to why the chambers have been demolished and whether any notice or opportunity of hearing was given to the lawyers before undertaking the exercise of demolition”, observed by the High Court.
The High Court has posted the matter on December 9 with the direction that no further demolition would be undertaken by the authority in the Sadar Tehsil.
Protesting lawyers last morning locked the gate of Sadar tehsil, demanding re-construction of the chamber and compensation for the damage done. The administrative officials who arrived after receiving the information tried to explain. After the talks of the district administration, the lawyers stopped their protest.
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