Ordinance Approved by UP Govt to Recover Damages Made During CAA Protests Challenged in Allahabad HC

Lucknow: An ordinance approved by Uttar Pradesh government recently for recovery of damages to public and private properties by rioters and protestors during anti-CAA protests has been challenged in the Allahabad High Court.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Allahabad High Court challenging the constitutional validity of the ordinance which was promulgated by Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel.

The PIL has been filed by advocate Shashank Shri Tripathi stating that the ordinance was a “mischief played on the Constitution”. The matter is listed for March 18 before the bench comprising Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ajit Kumar.

The Governor has promulgated the ordinance on Sunday which will allow Uttar Pradesh government to set up a claim tribunal through which those allegedly involved in rioting and damaging public and private property will be made to pay for the damages. The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh cabinet had approved the Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damage to Public and Private Property Ordinance 2020 on March 13.

As per information received, a retired judge or an officer of the additional commissioner rank will be the chairperson of this Tribunal and will be having two more members apart from him.

As per the details of the ordinance, the tribunal will assess the damages caused to public and private properties. The tribunal may also appoint claims commissioner or an assessor in every district to assess the damages. The assessor will be reporting to the tribunal within a stipulated time of three months.

The claims tribunal will also be loaded with the power of attaching properties once the recovery notices are served to the accused. The tribunal may also direct authorities to publish the names, addresses and photographs and a warning to the public for not buying the attached properties of such people. The tribunal will also be giving full and fair opportunity to the accused for presenting their side of the case. Interestingly, the ordinance also says that, “Every order or award passed by the claims tribunal shall be final and no appeal is maintainable against such order before any court.”

The Lucknow District Administration and police had erected hoardings of the anti-CAA protesters along with their names, photographs and addresses a few weeks back at prominent places in the city for their alleged involvement in the violence during the protest in the state capital on December 19 last year.

Taking suo-moto cognisance on the matter, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha of the Allahabad High Court had ordered the Lucknow District Administration to remove the hoardings of anti-CAA protesters put up across the state capital and asked the authorities to submit a compliance report by March 16.

However, the Uttar Pradesh government challenged the order of the Allahabad High Court in the Supreme Court where the matter was referred to a larger bench. However, no stay orders were passed by the apex court against the order of the Allahabad High Court. The Uttar Pradesh government was asked to file compliance report in this matter with the registrar general at the Allahabad High Court on or before March 16.

The banners were erected at major road crossings in the busy Hazratganj area of the state’s capital on Thursday night on the orders of the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. In Lucknow, around 50 people were identified by police as alleged rioters and were served notices to compensate for the public and private property damages.

Large-scale violence was reported from different parts of the state which caused causalities and substantial loss over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019.