New Delhi: There is no law to back the Uttar Pradesh government’s action of putting up hoardings naming those accused of violence during protests against the citizenship law, the Supreme Court told the state government today.
A vacation bench of the top court was hearing a petition by the Yogi Adityanath government, challenging an order earlier this week by the Allahabad High Court asking the government for the immediate removal of the ‘name and shame’ posters and hoardings put up across Lucknow. The case has been referred to a three-judge bench, with the Supreme Court not putting a stay on the high court’s order.
Defending its action, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Uttar Pradesh, argued that the hoardings were put up after following process of law, and that it was put up as a deterrent. It directed the top court registry to put up the case file before Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde so that a “bench of sufficient strength can be constituted at the earliest to hear and consider” the case next week.
The Uttar Pradesh government’s lawyers said the hoardings won’t be removed for now as the case has been referred to a larger bench.