UP moves top court against high court’s hoarding order
CHALLENGE HC ordered govt to remove hoardings containing details of CAA protesters
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear an Uttar Pradesh government plea challenging the Allahabad high court’s March 9 order directing it to remove hoardings containing photos and other personal details of people, who allegedly took part in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The state government moved the court on Wednesday and a vacation bench of justices UU Lalit and Aniruddha Bose will hear its plea.
A high court bench of chief justice Govind Mathur and justice Ramesh Sinha had ruled that the state government’s action of erecting the hoardings in Lucknow with personal details of the alleged anti-caa protestors amounted to an infringement of their privacy.
Privacy is an intrinsic part of the right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution and the actions of the state government amount to an unwarranted interference with the same, it added while directing the authorities to remove the hoardings immediately and submit a compliance report on or before March 16.
The Uttar Pradesh police on March 5 put up several hoardings across Lucknow, identifyis ing those accused of violence during the protests that took place against the CAA in December last year.
The names, photographs and residential addresses of the accused were on the hoardings and triggered concerns over the safety of those who figured on them. The accused were also asked to pay for the damages to public and private property caused during the protests within a stipulated time or have their properties seized.
The high court on March 7 registered a suo motu public interest litigation and asked the district magistrate and police commissioner of Lucknow to give details about the law under which such hoardings were put up.
On March 8, the high court pulled up the state government for putting up such hoardings and termed it as an “insult of state and its public”, “highly unjust” and an “encroachment” on the personal liberty of the people concerned.
Advocate general Raghvendra Pratap Singh, who appeared on behalf of the state government, argued the court should not interfere in such matters.
The high court rejected the argument. “Courts are meant to impart justice and no court can shut its eyes if a public injustice happening,” the court said.
It added when constitutional values are at stake, the high court can take suo motu cognisance and need not wait for some person to come before it and “ring the bell of justice”.
“In the case in hand, a valid apprehension of causing serious injury to the rights protected under Article 21 of the Constitution of India exists which demands adequate treatment by the Court at its own… Hence, the suo motu action by the Court is justified”, it said.
The high court noted there was no law, which entitled the state government to resort to such an action. It added courts have the power under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC) to publish a written proclamation requiring appearance of a person against whom a warrant has been issued and such a person is concealing himself to avoid execution of a warrant. The court said no other power is available in the CRPC to police or the government to display the personal records of a person.
The high court also brushed aside the government’s argument that the hoardings were meant to act as a “deterrent” so that such acts are not repeated. It added while the state is entitled to take actions for the maintenance of law and order, it should not come at the cost of fundamental rights of people.