Prophet Row: Advocates, former judges write to SC for suo motu action against demolition drives in UP

A group of former judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts and senior advocates on Tuesday shot off a letter to Chief Justice of India N V Ramana for the top court to take suo motu cognizance of "high-handedness" of Uttar Pradesh police and administration and "brutal clampdown" on fundamental rights of protesters by demolishing their houses and keeping them in detention.

Following the last Friday's protests over remarks on Prophet Muhammed by two BJP leaders, the letter claimed the Chief Minister has officially exhorted officials "to take such action against those guilty that it sets an example so that no one commits a crime or takes law into their hands in future."

Instead of giving protesters an opportunity of being heard and engaging in "peaceful protests", the UP state administration appears to have sanctioned taking violent action against such individuals, it added.

The signatories, including former SC judges Justices B Sudarshan Reddy, V Gopala Gowda and A K Ganguly, claimed the remarks by the Chief Minister have emboldened police to brutally and unlawfully torture protesters.

"Videos of young men in police custody being beaten with lathis, houses of protestors being demolished without notice or any cause of action, and protestors from the minority Muslim community being chased and beaten by the police, are circulating on social media, shaking the conscience of the nation," it claimed.

The letter also signed by former High Court judges Justices A P Shah, K Chandru and Mohammed Anwar contended such a brutal clampdown by a ruling administration is an unacceptable subversion of the rule of law and a violation of the rights of citizens, and makes a mockery of the Constitution and fundamental rights guaranteed by the State.

"The coordinated manner in which the police and development authorities have acted leads to the clear conclusion that demolitions are a form of collective extra judicial punishment, attributable to a state policy which is illegal," the letter said.

The signatories hoped that the Supreme Court as custodian of the Constitution will rise to the occasion and "not let the citizens and the Constitution down at this critical juncture".

"The mettle of judiciary is tested in such critical times and it has risen to the occasion in the past," it added pointing towards the orders passed in cases of migrant workers and the Pegasus case.

The senior lawyers who signed the letter are Shanti Bhushan, Indira Jaisingh, Chander Uday Singh, Sriram Panchu, Prashant Bhushan and Anand Grover.