'Desh badal raha hai': Kapil Sibal on PDA's bulldozer action in Uttar Pradesh; lawyers file plea in Allahabad HC against demolition

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Monday (June 13) said the "culture of bulldozing thrives" while the law sleeps in view of the demolition of an "illegally constructed" house of an accused in the Prayagraj violence. The Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) on Sunday demolished the house of the alleged mastermind of Friday's violence in Prayagraj amid heavy police deployment.

"Prayagraj: The culture of bulldozing thrives while the law SLEEPS," Sibal said in a tweet, adding "Desh badal raha hai (the country is changing)". Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who quit the Congress recently, was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh as an independent backed by the Samajwadi Party.  A day earlier, the properties of two people accused of rioting were demolished in Saharanpur where stone-pelting had taken place as well.

Group of advocates file plea in Allahabad HC against the demolition

Meanwhile, a body of advocates in Prayagaraj has e-mailed a petition to the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court against the demolition of a house of the alleged mastermind of the June 10 violence here by the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA). The building map of the house of the accused, Javed Ahmad, had not been approved by the PDA, according to an official of the agency.

Five advocates from an association, Zila Adhivakta Manch, claimed in the petition that the owner of the house, demolished on Sunday, was Javed's wife Parveen Fatima.
The said house was given to Fatima by her parents before her marriage, so Ahmad had no ownership over the house and the plot, hence the demolition was against the law, claimed the plea which was e-mailed to the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court on Sunday.

The petition also said that in order to justify the demolition, the PDA had pasted a notice on the house on June 11, mentioning a show-cause notice of a previous date. Neither Ahmad nor his wife had got the show-cause notice, it claimed. The petition stated that social worker Ahmad was arrested on the night of June 10, and an FIR was registered against him at Khuldabad police station on June 11.

The advocates, who have filed the petition are KK Rai, Mohammad Saeed Siddiqui, Rajvendra Singh, Prabal Pratap, Ravindra Singh and others.
"Javed Ahmad's house -- JK Ashiyana -- is located in the Kareli area of Prayagraj. Police personnel and a JCB machine reached the Kareli police station around 10.30 am and the demolition commenced around 1 pm," PTI quoted a senior PDA official as saying on Sunday.

"The house was built without getting its map passed by the PDA. For this, he was issued a notice on May 10 and was told to present his side on May 24. On the given date, neither Javed nor his lawyer turned up. No document was presented as well, and hence on May 25, demolition orders were issued," he further said.

Superintendent of Police (City) Dinesh Kumar Singh told PTI on Sunday, "In the morning, some of Javed Ahmad's family members collected a few of their belongings and left the place through the back door. As of now, no one is inside the house." Senior Superintendent of Police, Prayagraj, Ajay Kumar said the estimated value of the house was Rs 5 crore. The SP (City) said the police searched the house and found many objectionable items which were seized, adding that these will be included in the investigation. Notably, the row over the remarks against Prophet Mohammad escalated last week as several Muslim countries denounced them, prompting the BJP to suspend Nupur Sharma.

(With PTI Inputs)