No demolition in violence-hit Bahraich till Wednesday, UP govt assures SC

New Delhi, Oct 22 : The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday gave an oral undertaking before the Supreme Court that it will temporarily halt demolition action in violence-hit Bahraich.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K.M. Nataraj, appearing on behalf of the state government, agreed before a bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai that district authorities will not take any coercive action till Wednesday.

The Bench, also comprising Justice K.V. Viswanathan, agreed to urgently hear the applications filed against the proposed demolitions on Wednesday and in the meantime, asked the authorities to defer the bulldozer action.

“If they want to take the risk of flouting our order, it’s their choice," it cautioned the state authorities.

Last week, the Public Works Department (PWD) had marked a couple of houses in Bahraich with red signs, including that of key accused Sarfaraz and others, believed to have been involved in the murder of Ram Gopal Mishra.

The move to mark houses in the red comes almost a week after the communal violence shook Bahraich's Maharajganj and is being seen as a precursor to bulldozer action. The marking of homes had sparked widespread fear and anxiety among the locals, particularly those whose houses have been tagged.

Bahraich witnessed a heated argument between two communities during the Durga idol immersion procession on October 13, which later intensified into a communal flare-up and violent clashes. Ram Gopal Mishra, a 22-year-old man was shot dead by other community members in the Maharajganj area in Bahraich's Mansoor village, leading to widespread demonstrations and protests.

The Supreme Court, in an interim order passed on September 17, directed that no demolition will take place anywhere across the country except without its permission after several petitions were filed before the apex court alleging that bulldozer action was taken by various state authorities without sufficient notice.

However, the top court clarified that its "order would not be applicable if there is an unauthorised structure in any public place such as road, street, footpath, abutting railway line or any river body or water bodies and also to cases where there is an order for demolition made by a court".

Recently, the Supreme Court refused to pass any stay quo order in relation to demolitions being carried out near the famous Somnath temple but gave a strongly worded message to Gujarat authorities. It said that if demolitions were carried out in the teeth of its September 17 order, it would not hesitate to "send authorities to jail and ask them to restore the position as it was". "If we find the authorities in contempt of our order, not only we will send them to jail, but we will ask them to restore the position as it was. We have made it clear that if they are in contempt, we will pass a status quo ante order," the SC said.