Supreme Court To Hear Plea Against Demolition Near Krishnajanam Bhoomi On August 16

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea seeking a stay on the demolition drive being carried out by Railway near Krishnajanam Bhoomi in Mathura on August 16.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud assured the petitioner that it will hear the matter on August 16.

Senior Advocate Prashanto Chandra Sen mentioned the plea before the bench and sought an urgent hearing citing that courts in Uttar Pradesh have been shut down due to the shooting of a lawyer.

Senior Advocate Sen said that on August 9, the authorities started demolition and people have been living there since the 1800s.

The court said that they will keep the matter before an appropriate bench on August 16.

The petitioners were represented by advocates Radha Tarkar and Aaron Shaw.

In the petition, the petitioner has sought to stay the process of demolishment by the railway authorities, Mathura. The petitioner filed a civil suit before the Civil Court Senior division, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh seeking a permanent injunction against the railway authority but in the meantime on August 9 2023 the demolition work commenced.

The same was challenged on the very next day August 10. The Counsel for the Railway had submitted on August 10 that he does not have any instruction for the demolition and accordingly submitted before the Civil Court that he would come with instruction, the petitioner said.

However today all the Court proceeding in Allahabad is suspended pursuant to a resolution passed by the Bar Council on account of the shooting of an advocate, the petitioner said.

They have approached the Civil Court as well as High Court, but all the courts are closed and they could not pursue the issue, the petitioner said.

And taking advantage of the situation the Railway Authority has initiated the process of demolishing the house of the petitioners in the most arbitrary manner, the petitioner claimed.

The petitioner has tried their level best to pursue the matter before the Civil Court and the High Court but the Courts being closed they could not pursue the matter there and as such are compelled to approach the top court and urged the apex court to issue direction to stay demolition where they have been staying since 1880.

The petitioner called the action of the respondent of demolishing the house as absolutely illegal, arbitrary and in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)