LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on Saturday issued a notice over the violence which took place in Lucknow during anti-CAA protests on Thursday. The state government has been asked to respond to the notice within two weeks time.
The court has asked the Lucknow District Magistrate to make an assessment of the damage to public property during the violent protests.
The bench, comprising Justice Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal and Justice Jaspreeet Singh, issued the notice while hearing a public interest litigation filed by one Shishir Chaturvedi.
The petitioner in the PIL had demanded the strictest action against the trouble-makers. In the petition, the litigant has also prayed to the court to issue the order in connection with the recovery of the cost of damaged property from those who destroyed it during violent protest by indulging in vandalism and arson.
Responding to the PIL, Additional Advocate General VK Shahi claimed that UP CM Yogi Adityanath had issued orders to take strict action against the trouble-makers. “The CM has also issued directives to recover the cost of damaged property from those who had indulged in violence and lawlessness during the protests,” Shahi said.
On this, the court asked the Additional Advocate General to present his side of the story by giving an affidavit in the court.
Notably, one Mohammad Wakil, 25, was killed and 35 others, including 16 cops, had sustained injuries when thousands of anti-CAA protestors spilled on the roads of Lucknow on Thursday. Even Congress and Samajwadi Party had also given a CAA protest call in the state capital the same day.
The protests took a violent turn as thousands of protestors spilled on the roads of Lucknow indulging in heavy stone pelting on cops, vandalism and arson. They also attacked the media persons and set around five OB vans of various news channels afire. The angry protestors had set two police outposts on fire in old city areas.