Prayagraj advocates move HC against demolition of violence accused's home

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 in Prayagraj.

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati criticised bulldozing of violence 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 Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma's remarks against Prophet Mohammed.

The Prayagraj Development Authority 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 the house and on 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 about 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.

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 cognisance 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 honour of the country was affected and violence broke out," she said.

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

Mayawati said the government disregarded rules and demolished accused's houses in a hasty manner. "No only innocent families are being crushed but houses of innocent people are also being razed," she said.

"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," a senior PDA official had said 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 said.

Speaking to PTI, superintendent of police (city) Dinesh Kumar Singh on Sunday had said, "In the morning, some of Javed Ahmed'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.

During the demolition, he said, the police also searched the house and found many objectionable items which were seized. These will be included in the investigation.

The development comes a day after the illegal properties of two persons accused of rioting were bulldozed in Saharanpur, which witnessed stone pelting on Friday.

According to police, Javed Ahmed is the alleged mastermind of the stone pelting that took place in the city on June 10 after protests against the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad made by now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma spun out of control.

A mob set on fire a few motorcycles and carts and also attempted to set ablaze a police vehicle. The 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.

The row over the remarks against Prophet Mohammed escalated last week as several Muslim countries denounced them, prompting the BJP to suspend Sharma.