The Supreme Court told the Uttar Pradesh government onThursday that as of now, there was no law that could back their action ofputting up roadside posters of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAAprotests in Lucknow.
An apex court bench refused to stay the March 9 AllahabadHigh Court order directing the Yogi Adityanath adminstration to remove the posters.
The top court, which grilled the Uttar Pradesh governmentfor putting up such posters in public, described the plea as a matter thatneeded “further elaboration and consideration”.
A vacation bench of justices U U Lalit and Aniruddha Bosesaid a “bench of sufficient strength” would consider next week theUttar Pradesh government’s appeal against the Allahabad High Court orderdirecting the state adminstration to remove the posters of those accused ofvandalism during anti-CAA protests.
It directed the apex court registry to put up the case filebefore Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde so that a “bench ofsufficient strength can be constituted at the earliest to hear and consider”the case next week.
During the hearing, the bench told Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, that it was a matter of”great importance”.
It asked Mehta whether the state government had the power toput up such posters.
The top court, however, said there was no doubt that actionshould be taken against rioters and they should be punished.
Mehta told the court that the posters were put up as a”deterrent” and the hoardings only said that these persons wereliable to pay for their alleged acts during the violence.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for former IPSofficer S R Darapuri whose poster has also been affixed in Lucknow, told thebench that the state was duty-bound to show the authority of law backing itsaction.
He said the action of the Uttar Pradesh government amountedto a “mega blanket” approach of naming and shaming these personswithout final adjudication and it was an open invitation to common men to lynchthem as the posters also had their addresses and photographs.