Bahraich violence: UP govt assures SC of not taking action on demolition till Oct 23

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday assured the Supreme Court that authorities won't take any action till tomorrow on demolition notices issued against the buildings belonging to persons allegedly involved in the October 13 Bahraich violence in the state.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said it will hear the application tomorrow seeking protection against the proposed demolitions.
Senior advocate CU Singh mentioned the application before the bench today for an early hearing.
The bench said it will take up the application tomorrow for hearing and asked the Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj to defer action, to which ASG said that no action will be taken till tomorrow.
ASG also informed the top court that the Allahabad High Court is also seized of the matter. On urgent hearing, the High Court on Sunday granted 15 more days to the affected persons to respond to the notices issued by the UP authorities.
"If they (UP authorities) want to take the risk of flouting our order, it's their choice," the bench also remarked.
An application was filed in the apex court against the demolition notices issued by the Uttar Pradesh authorities to some people including the accused in the Bahraich violence case Abdul Hameed over the illegal construction of his residence.
Three people have jointly filed the petition against the demolition notice and urged the top court to quash the notices issued on October 17, 2024, which was pasted on the night of October 18.
The petitioners also sought interim relief for staying the proposed demolition and status quo as of the date of issuance of notice on October 17.
Earlier on September 17 the apex court passed an interim order on similar petitions that no construction should be bulldozed without prior permission from it, except those that are encroachments on public spaces.
The top court has recently reserved its judgement on a batch of petitions seeking directions against demolition actions by various state authorities, whereby houses of persons accused of crimes are demolished as a punitive action.