Court asks both parties to maintain status quo

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court has directed both the parties to maintain status quo in respect to the nature and possession of a house, located close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which was purchased by the state government for building the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi.

A tenant from Varanasi approached the Allahabad High Court asking permission to continue staying in the house which has been sold by the owner to the state government.

The petitioners, Munni Tiwari and one more from Varanasi district, have contended that the owner didn’t follow the proper legal procedure while asking them to vacate the house, hence they can’t be told to move out of the property.

Hearing the writ petition, a division bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Umesh Chandra Tripathi directed the state government and other respondents to file their respective replies (counter affidavits) in response to the writ petition.

The court also has fixed the

THE UP GOVERNMENT IS PLANNING TO CONSTRUCT A CORRIDOR BETWEEN THE KASHI VISHWANATH TEMPLE AND THE GANGA

next hearing for July 2. The submission of the counsel for the petitioners was that the petitioner is a tenant in the property in question.

He argued that the property may have been transferred in favour of the state government, but the petitioner continues to be a tenant in occupation of the property.

Therefore, neither she can be forcefully evicted nor the property is liable to demolition by the subsequent purchaser without following the procedure prescribed for the purpose.

The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to construct a corridor between the Kashi Vishwanath temple and the Ganga river.

The 400-metre long corridor, estimated to cost around Rs 450 crore, is supposed to provide devotees “clear access” to the temple after taking a dip in the Ganga.