LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court has directed the Centre and the state government along with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to file a counter affidavit within four weeks on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a complete ban on caste-based rallies in Uttar Pradesh.
The division bench, comprising Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, granted two weeks’ time to the petitioner for filing a rejoinder affidavit to the counter affidavit to be filed by the respondents. It has directed the court registry to list the case after six weeks for the next hearing.
A bench passed the order on an old Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by one Motilal Yadav in 2013 after reopening it.
Hearing the PIL on July 11, 2013, the bench had issued an interim ban on organizing caste-based rallies in Uttar Pradesh. The bench had also issued notices to the main political parties to submit their response in the matter.
The bench, on Dec. 5, 2002, issued notices to the four major political parties -- BJP, Samajwadi Party, BSP and Congress -- seeking their response as to why a complete ban should not be imposed on caste-based
rallies in the state forever.
The bench had also asked the chief election commissioner as to why the poll body should not take action against those holding such rallies.
In its order passed in 2013, the High Court bench had observed, "The unrestricted freedom to hold caste-based rallies, which is to the total disliking and beyond the comprehension of the modern generation and also being contrary to the public interest, cannot be justified. It will rather be an act of negating the rule of law and denying the fundamental rights to citizens."
The bench had also observed that the political parties, in their quest to seek a political base in the caste system, had "seriously disturbed" the social fabric and cohesiveness. "It has rather resulted in causing social fission."
The petitioner had submitted that caste minorities in the country have been reduced to "second-class citizens" in their own country owing to such 'anti-democratic' activities of political parties designed to woo the votes of majority groups.
"Despite the clear constitutional provisions and the fundamental rights enshrined therein, they are feeling disillusioned, dismayed and betrayed because of being placed in a disadvantageous position in the
number game of vote politics”, the petitioner had added.