UP To Move Supreme Court Against Allahabad High Court's Order On CAA Posters: Sources

The Yogi Adityanath government will challenge the Allahabad Court’s order on the ‘name and shame posters’, sources said. News Nation has learnt that the Uttar Pradesh government is likely to move the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court’s order on Wednesday itself. The development comes two days after the Allahabad High Court ordered the Yogi government to remove the posters that named and shamed the anti-CAA protesters. The bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha also directed the district magistrate and the Lucknow police commissioner to submit a report in this regard by March 16.

In Lucknow, around 50 people were identified by police as alleged rioters and were served notices.  Activist-politician Sadaf Jafar and former IPS officer SR Darapuri were among those whose photos appeared on the posters.

The hoardings put up by the administration said that the properties of the accused will be confiscated if they fail to pay the compensation. In December last year, massive violence had broken out across the state during the anti-CAA protests. At least 60 police personnel were hit by bullets across the state while trying to control the violence. Later, hundreds were arrested across the violence-hit districts in Uttar Pradesh and charges of rioting and attempted murder were filed against them.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had slammed the yogi government for the posters. “The attitude of the BJP government of Uttar Pradesh is such that the head of the government and the officials, who are following his footsteps, have started considering themselves above the Constitution made by Babasaheb Ambedkar”, PTI quotes Priyanka Gandhi as saying. Priyanka added, “The High Court has told the government that you are not above the Constitution. Your accountability will be fixed,” the Congress general secretary said in a tweet on March 8.

Activist-politician Sadaf Jafar, who was among those whose photo appears on the posters, termed the move unethical and vowed to take legal recourse. “How can we be publicly humiliated for something that has not yet been proved in court,” she had asked. “This is not Afghanistan. Legal issues cannot be brought into public like this. Our bail order says there is no adequate evidence against us,” Jafar had told PTI.

(With agency inputs)