Lawyers' group moves HC against razing of violence accused's house, Mayawati flays govt action

A group of lawyers has approached the Allahabad High Court against the demolition of the house of Javed Ahmad, the alleged mastermind of the violence that took place following Friday prayers on June 10 here.

Meanwhile, BSP supremo Mayawati criticized bulldozing of violent accused's houses in the state, terming it ''unfair and unjust'' and saying the courts should take note of it.

Violence had taken place in parts of the state following a row over now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's remarks against Prophet Mohammed.

The Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) had demolished Ahmad's house on Sunday, with an official of the agency saying the building plan of the structure had not been approved by the PDA. The move came a day after the authorities bulldozed two houses of violence accused in Saharanpur.

Five advocates belonging to the Zila Adhivakta Manch claimed in their petition to the Allahabad High Court chief justice that the house demolished on Sunday was owned by Javed's wife Parveen Fatima.

The house was given to Fatima by her parents before her marriage, so Ahmad had no ownership over it, and the plot, hence the demolition was against the law, claimed the plea which was e-mailed to the chief justice.

The petition said to justify the demolition, the PDA posted 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 said ''social worker'' Ahmad was arrested on June 10 night and an FIR was registered against him a day later. The advocates who filed the petition are KK Rai, Mohammad Saeed Siddiqui, Rajendra Singh, Prabal Pratap, and Ravindra Singh.

Meanwhile, BSP chief Mayawati called the demolition of houses in the state ''unfair and unjust''. An atmosphere of ''fear and terror'' has been created and the courts should take cognizance of it, she said in a series of Hindi tweets.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also demanded that Nupur Sharma and expelled BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal be arrested.

''The root cause of the problem is Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, due to which the honor of the country was affected and violence broke out,'' she said.

''Why no action has been initiated against them and why has the government ridiculed the rule of law? Not sending both to jail is grossly biased and unfortunate. The immediate arrest is required,'' she said.

Mayawati said the government disregarded rules and hastily demolished the accused's houses. ''No only innocent families are being crushed but houses of innocent people are also being razed,'' she said. The Prayagraj Development Authority had demolished Ahmad's house amid heavy police deployment.

An official had claimed that the house was built without getting its map approved by the PDA, for which a notice was issued by the last month and Ahmad was told to present his side on May 25.

''On the given date, neither Javed nor his lawyer turned up. No document was presented. Hence, on May 25, demolition orders were issued,'' he said.

According to police, Ahmad is the alleged mastermind of the stone pelting that took place in Prayagraj on June 10 after protests against Nupur Sharma's remarks.

A mob set on fire a few motorcycles and carts and also attempted to set ablaze a police vehicle. Police used tear gas and lathis to disperse the protesters and restore peace. A policeman was injured in the violence.

The protests were also held in at least four other cities of Uttar Pradesh.