Congress' Ashwani Kumar lauds HC's decision of pulling down 'name & shame hoardings'

On Monday, former Law Minister and senior Congress leader Ashwani Kumar welcomed the Allahabad High Court's order asking the UP Government to pull down the hoardings revealing the identities of those who accused of violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying it was "in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution." 

Read: Allahabad HC Orders UP Govt To Remove 'name & Shame' Hoardings For CAA Violence Suspects

"A man is presumed to be innocent until proved to be guilty. There is no justification in placing the names of the people accused of crimes. The judgment of Allahabad High Court is absolutely correct and it is in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution," Kumar told news agency ANI.

Read: Mayawati Welcomes Allahabad High Court's Order To Remove 'Name & Shame' Posters In UP

'It was unfortunate' 

The Allahabad High Court on Monday ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to remove all hoardings which displayed the personal details of those suspected for violence during the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in the state. The hoardings displayed the names, photos, and addresses of more than 50 people who were suspected of violence. 

"This is an absolutely correct judgment by the Constitution. It is unfortunate that without the crime being proved, people's names were being put on notice boards publicly," he said.

Read: Priyanka Gandhi Slams Yogi-govt Over Banners In Lucknow To Name & Shame Activists

'Encroachment on personal liberty' 

The bench, led by Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha also ordered District Magistrate and Lucknow Divisional Commissioner of Police to submit a compliance report with the Registrar General of the Hight Court by March 16.

The verdict comes a day after a bench had summoned the DM and DCP and enquired about the hoardings stating that they were highly unjust and were an "encroachment" on personal liberty.

The Bench called for an early morning hearing on Sunday, March 8 and raised the issue and asked the government to take down all the banners by 3 pm. The bench stated that the boards were highly unjust and were an "encroachment" on personal liberty. 

The posters bearing photographs, names, and addresses of those accused of vandalism during the anti-CAA protests were put up at major road crossings in Lucknow on Thursday night on the directions of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official had said.

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(With Agency Inputs)