UP Cabinet passes ordinance to recover damages to public property during anti-CAA protests

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Friday passed the 'Recovery of Damage to Public Properties Ordinance 2020' for recovery of losses due to damage to public property during violent protests. The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"Cabinet has approved the Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Ordinance, 2020 for effective prevention of loss of public property in the state," the state government tweeted in Hindi.

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As many as 15 people had died in the violence that erupted across Uttar Pradesh during the agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December 2019. Yogi Adityanath had earlier said that the damages in the violence will be recovered from the rioters. 

Yogi's 'name and shame' posters

Authorities in Lucknow put up roadside banners with photographs of people asked to pay compensation for damage to public property during anti-CAA protests, triggering outrage among those being named and shamed. The banners came up at major road crossings in Lucknow late on March 6 on the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official said. 

They bear photographs, names, and addresses of those accused of vandalism during protests in December against the CAA. Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, lashed out at the BJP government for branding the protestors guilty.

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The vacation bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday told the Uttar Pradesh government that as of now, there was no law that could back their action. An apex court bench refused to stay the March 9 Allahabad High Court order directing the Yogi Adityanath administration to remove the posters.

A vacation bench of justices UU Lalit and Aniruddha Bose said a "bench of sufficient strength" would consider the matter next week. The posters put by the Yogi Government bear photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during protests in December last year. The Allahabad high court on Monday directed the Lucknow administration to remove posters displaying pictures.

(With agency inputs)