Allahabad HC dismisses PIL seeking bar on protests at Ghantaghar park in Lucknow

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday declined to entertain a PIL seeking a restriction on demonstration, procession and stir at the Ghantaghar park in the Old City, owing to a Supreme Court direction that matters related to the new citizenship law would not be taken up by any high court in the country.

A bench of Justice Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal and Justice K S Pawar dismissed the PIL after a request by the petitioner that he was withdrawing it.

It said the apex court, in an order passed on January 22 in a case of the Union of Muslim League and others versus the Union of India, while granting time to the respondents to file their replies, directed high courts not to take up the matter pertaining to the dispute and agitation related to the CAA.

In the PIL, the petitioner, Shishir Chaturvedi, had alleged that the demonstration at Ghantaghar is disturbing law and order and as such, the police and the administration should be directed to take action against the demonstrators and remove the stir from the site as it is being held despite imposition of section 144 of CrPC in the area.