Lucknow: Samajwadi Party puts poster against Yogi’s UP government anti CAA protestors hoarding
The hoardings carried pictures of rape accused Chinmayanand and Unnao rape convict Kuldeep Sengar along with the details of their criminal cases.
Lucknow: A poster war has erupted in Lucknow since the district administration put up hoardings of anti-CAA protesters, with the Samajwadi Party erecting banners of rape accused ex-Union minister Chinmayanand and Unnao rape convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar, also a former BJP leader.
Tweeting a picture of the hoardings, which stand right next to those depicting 53 anti-CAA protesters, SP leader IP Singh said: “When protesters don’t have any privacy and even after the orders of High Court and Supreme Court, Yogi Government is not taking down hoardings. So I have also decided to put up get some hoardings of named criminals, our daughters should be aware of them.”
In another tweet, Singh wrote: “People who will oppose hoardings will be supporters of Rapists and will be Anti Woman. Before doing a contempt of the High Court and Supreme Court and disobeying our Constitution the BJP should introspect themselves first. BJP is Anti Woman.”
However, soon after the matter came to the notice of the Lucknow District Administration, the hoardings were removed and vigil was stepped up to avoid a repeat.
The hoardings carried pictures of Chinmayanand and Sengar along with the details of their criminal cases. “Betiyan Rahe Savdhan, Surakshit Rahe Hindustan,” is the message that the hoardings carried.
The Supreme Court on Thursday told the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh that its decision to put up hoardings identifying anti-CAA protesters has no backing in law. It, however, did not pass any interim order and said the matter would be heard next week by a three-judge bench.
A vacation bench of Justices UU Lalit and Aniruddha Bose told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, that it is a matter of “great importance”. The bench also asked Mehta whether the state government has the power to put such posters.
The top court is hearing an appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh government challenging the March 9 order of the Allahabad High Court directing the state administration to remove posters of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests.
The High Court had on Monday ordered Lucknow’s District Magistrate and Police Commissioner to remove the ‘name-and-shame’ hoardings with immediate effect, and submit its report on the matter by March 16 which is the next date of hearing.
The court observed that the district administration had no right to put up photographs since this was a violation of one’s privacy.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice Govind Mathur, had taken suo motu cognizance of the 100-odd hoardings that were put up on road crossings on Friday and the court heard the case on Sunday even though it was a holiday. The verdict, reserved on Sunday, was delivered on Monday.
