NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered status quo with regard to the demolition drive being carried out by railway authorities to clear alleged illegal constructions near the Krishna Janmabhoomi in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose, Sanjay Kumar, and SVN Bhatti issued notice to the Centre and others in the matter. "Let there be status quo as regards the subject premises for a period of 10 days. List after one week, "the bench said.
The lawyer, appearing for the petitioner Yakub Shah, told the bench that 100 houses have been bulldozed. "There are 70-80 houses left. The whole thing will become infructuous. They conducted the exercise on a day when Uttar Pradesh courts were closed," he said.
The matter pertains to the demolition of settlements near Krishna Janmabhoomi.
On August 9, the government began a demolition drive in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura, reportedly bulldozing as many as 135 houses in the Nai Basti, a settlement along the railway track in the backyard of the Krishna Janmabhoomi.
These houses were marked as illegal encroachments on government land and a team from the railways, along with the district administration, and police conducted the demolition exercise.
Railway authorities have sought to defend this move by citing a plan to convert the 21 km stretch from Mathura to Vrindavan from narrow to broad gauge. However, a few residents approached a local court to stay the demolition drive.
Based on a writ petition under Article 32 by Yakub Shah seeing an urgent hearing, a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud agreed to list the petition on Wednesday, August 16.
Shah also alleged that the demolition was carried out in an area that has a predominantly Muslim population even as a challenge against eviction notices was pending in a local court in Mathura.
(With inputs from PTI)