The Allahabad High Court has granted the Uttar Pradesh government time till April 10 to file a compliance report in the ‘name and shame’ hoardings case.
Terming it an “unwarranted interference in privacy” of people and a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution, the High Court recently directed the Lucknow administration to forthwith remove the controversial ‘name and shame’ roadside hoardings of those arrested during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act last December.
The court had also asked the District Magistrate Lucknow to submit a compliance report by March 16 and directed the government to not place such banners on roads, containing the personal data of individuals, without having authority of law.
The government, however, sought more time citing the pendency of a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by it against the order in the Supreme Court. It also did not remove the hoardings.
The District Magistrate of Lucknow filed an application seeking extension of time for compliance of the order.
Advocate General of U.P. submitted that in light of pendency of the SLP before the Supreme Court, it would be appropriate to have compliance report after disposal of the SLP.
“Having considered the facts stated in the application and the affidavit annexed there to, at this stage we deem it appropriate to extend the time for filing the compliance report up to 10 April, 2020,” a Division Bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha said.
The Supreme Court heard the SLP on March 12 and ordered to place the matter before a larger Bench.
