LUCKNOW: Even as the issue of the hoardings comprising the names and addresses of 57 accused of violence and vandalism during the anti-CAA protests is still raging, the Lucknow administration is gearing up to initiate proceedings to attach the properties of over a dozen people to recover damages to the tune of Rs 21.67 lakh for the property destroyed during the stir on December 19-20 last year.
Thirteen people were served the recovery notices on February 15. Consequently, on March 16, the deadline would end and the authorities, thereafter, would proceed with the legal procedure for confiscating their properties to extract the damages.
The hoardings which have been put up by the district authorities across the state capital also feature the 13 people who were served the recovery notice last month. Besides, the names and addresses of 44 others against whom action would be initiated in due course are also there. However, the issue of
putting up the hoarding reached the Allahabad High Court which ordered the state government to remove the posters in order to protect the personal liberty of those involved. Now, the matter is pending with the Supreme Court of India.
The recovery order, undersigned by Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Trans-Gomti area of Lucknow, Vishwa Bhushan Mishra, was served on 13 people including Dharmeveer Singh, Mohd Kaleem of Jankipuram, Mohammad Kaleem of Hasanganj, Mukhtar Ahmed, Mohammad Zakir, Osama Siddiqui, Mohammad Hashim, Mohammad Salman, Wasim, Mohammad Shafiuddin, Mahenur Choudhury, Hafiz-ur-Rehman and Mubin, last month.
However, sources in the state treasury claimed that so far no money was deposited by anyone in connection with the recovery notice issued on February 13. While the order stated the amount of damages to be Rs 21.67 lakh, it also allegedly clarified that very few troublemakers were identified in a protest which was attended by over 10,000 people and that the police failed to make enough efforts to round up many who might have had a role in the violence and vandalism.
As per the sources, the recovery of damages would be on ‘joint and several liability’ basis. It means that one person is also liable for the amount and all of them are also liable collectively. Whoever is caught, the recovery would be made from them and then for division, they can file suit in a civil court.
The sources claimed that as per the order, the Chief Treasury Officer (CTO) would submit a report to the ADM concerned about the amount collected so far in response to the recovery notices. If only a partial amount has been collected, a letter would be written to the Lucknow DM asking him to begin land attachment proceedings to extract the remaining amount according to the revenue rules, said the source.