The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered status quo to be maintained with regard to the demolition drive being carried out by railway authorities to clear alleged illegal constructions near the Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, reports Live Law.
A three-judge bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose, Sanjay Kumar and SVN Bhatti passed the order.
“Let there be status quo as regards the subject premises for a period of 10 days. List after one week,” the bench said.
Senior advocate Prashanto Chandra Sen told the bench that the petition would become infructuous if the demolition drive were to continue.
“When we approached this court, all courts in Uttar Pradesh were closed. Taking advantage of that, the authorities have bulldozed over 100 houses. There are some 200 houses in the area. Only 70-80 are left. The whole thing will become infructuous,” the counsel said, as quoted by Live Law.
The matter pertains to demolition of settlements near the Krishna Janmabhoomi.
On August 9, the government began a demolition drive in Mathura where at least 135 houses, which were marked as illegal encroachments in government land, in the Nai Basti, an area along the railway track in the backyard of Krishna Janmabhoomi, were razed.
Local resident Yakub Shah had filed a writ petition under Article 32 seeking an urgent hearing. He alleged that the demolition was carried out in the area that has Muslim population.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud agreed to list the petition on Wednesday, August 16, after Sen on Monday sought an urgent hearing in the matter.