Mayawati's demolition spree gets SC nod

New Delhi: Endorsing the Uttar Pradesh government's demolition spree in Lucknow undertaken to pave the way for new constructions, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed it to raze an old government bungalow in the state capital.

While passing a blanket order for demolition of old, dilapidated government houses, a Bench of Justice H K Sema and Justice Markandey Katju allowed the government to demolish its four other bungalows, including the one where Chief Minister Mayawati lived earlier.
The Bench gave the go-ahead saying that the government was well within its right to raze its own bungalows, and set aside an order of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court which had restrained the demolitions.
The four bungalows that the government wanted to demolish are bungalows numbering 12, 12A, 13 and 13A. As Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Mayawati earlier was allotted 13 and 13 A.
Emboldened by the green signal for demolition, the state government also apprised the Court that it had already filed another application for its permission to demolish a sports complex near the Ambedkar Park and sought an earlier hearing on it, possibly next Friday.
The state government's move to seek the apex court's permission to undertake the demolition of government property in the city was opposed by D K Garg, counsel for the Gomati Nagar Jan Kalyan Mahasamiti.
Garg pointed out to the Court that it was Justice Katju himself who as a judge of the Allahabad High Court had passed several orders on his client's petition and restrained the state from undertaking the demolition. But Justice Katju simply smiled at Garg's plea and ignored it.
Friday, 02 May , 2008, 00:06Last Updated: Friday, 02 May , 2008, 00:12
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