Lucknow, March 24 The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday directed the Lucknow Municipal Corporation to take immediate action against the illegal encroachments surrounding the District and Sessions Court (former High Court campus) in Kaisarbagh.
The Lucknow bench of the high court has sought a report by April 7 on the action taken.
The division bench of justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Rajiv Bharti passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Advocates Anuradha Singh, Devanshi Srivastava, and her mother Arunima Srivastava.
The petitioners have challenged an FIR registered against them by Advocate Sujit Kumar Balmiki under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The petitioners stated that Balmiki's senior, Shravan Kumar (an advocate), had illegally set up his office near their house, and that disturbances and arguments occur there after the court closes in the evening.
When the petitioners object, serious altercations often take place. The petitioners alleged that this was the reason a false report had been filed against them, even though they had already filed an FIR on the same day of the incident.
Taking a serious view of the matter, the court restrained the police from taking any action against the petitioners based on the FIR and directed the police to conduct an impartial investigation and submit a report.
During the hearing of this case, it came to light that the former High Court premises had been subjected to haphazard illegal encroachment. This encroachment included not only lawyers' offices but also permanent structures housing photocopy and typing shops and even food and beverage outlets.
The court expressed displeasure over this and had called a report from the municipal corporation. The municipal corporation submitted its report stating that approximately 72 encroachments were found in the area, and most of them were lawyers' offices, and some were illegally constructed shops.
The municipal corporation informed the court that it would be necessary to first issue notices to remove the encroachment and, after this, action would be taken with the help of the police and the district administration.
At this, the court said that generally, a notice is necessary in cases of authorized constructions, but in cases of illegal encroachment, immediate action can be taken, and the law should be strictly followed.
The court directed the municipal corporation to post the notice at the site and publish it in widely circulated Hindi and English newspapers if the encroachers do not receive the notice.
The municipal corporation was also ordered to submit a detailed report of the steps taken by the next hearing.