Tag: Allahabad

If I forget thee O Allahabad, may my right hand perish

By Justice Katju

Even 2000 years of their diaspora Jews still say ” If I forget thee O Jerusalem, may my right hand perish ” ( Bible : Old Testament : Psalms : 137.5 ).
So also, I say ” If I forget thee O Allahabad, may my right hand perish ”.

Of my 77 years, I have spent 58 years in Allahabad ( Prayag ).. So I can rightly claim it is my city, which has made me what I am today.
This is the city where Lord Ram came after his exile from Ayodhya, and met Rishi Bharadwaj in his ashram on the bank of the sangam ( the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Jamuna, and the legendary Saraswati ).
https://www.nativeplanet.com/travel-guide/places-visited-by-lord-rama-prayag-002486.html#:~:text=Prayag%20is%20where%20Lord%20Rama,major%20places%20connected%20to%20Ramayana

This is the city about which the poet Tulsidas wrote in his Ramcharitmanas :
” Ko kahi sakai Prayag prabhau
Kalush punj kunjar mrigrau ”
( Who can tell the greatness of Prayag ?
It destroys all sins, like a lion which kills an elephant )

This is the city where Emperor Harshavardhan held his assembly in the first Kumbh Mela in 643 A.D. in which he honoured saints and scholars of all religions ( including the Buddhist Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsang ) and then gave all his wealth to the poor, borrowing a cloth from his sister Rajyashree to cover his naked body.

https://www.historydiscussion.net/biography/harshavardhans-empire-sources-accession-and-other-details/3084

This is the city in which Kumbh Mela assemblies are held every 12 years, the largest congregation of people anywhere ( 200 million in 2019 ).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbh_Mela#:~:text=Each%20festival%20attracts%20millions%2C%20with,the%20festival’s%20most%20crowded%20day.

This is the city where Hindus immerse the ashes of their dead in the sangam.
This is the city which was a centre of the Indian freedom struggle
This is the city which has produced great scholars, poets and jurists.

In Allahabad I met several people who were intellectually superior to me ( they are all dead now ), and I sat at their feet like a humble student listening to their rational explanation of things, events and treatises, until I too built up a huge store of knowledge.

Though born in Lucknow, I grew up in Allahabad. I was a student there in the Boys High School and the Allahabad University, then a lawyer in the Allahabad High Court, and finally a Judge in the High Court from 1991.

My exile fom Allahabad began in 2004 when I was appointed Chief Justice of Madras High Court, and since then I have remained out of the city ( except for a few short visits ).

The geat Urdu poet Munawwar Rana has written these verses about Allahabad in his long poem ‘Mohajirnama’ ( which was descriptive of the lament of mohajirs who had migrated from India to Pakistan at the time of Partition, but later regretted it ).
” Gale milti hui nadiyan, gale milte hue mausam
Allahabad ka kaisa nazaara chhod aaye hain
Kal ek amrood waale se kehna pad gaya mujhko
Jahaan se aaye hain is phal ki bagiya chhod aaye hain
Kuch der to woh takta raha mujhko, phir bola
Woh sangam ka ilaaqa chhoota, ya chhod aaye hain ?
Abhi hum sonch mein the ki usse kya kaha jaaye
Hamaare aansuon ne raaz ugla chhod aaye hain ”

The same is my plight, which cannot be described in words. I miss Civil Lines, Chowk, Katra, my school, the University, the High Court, the Coffee House, the sangam, etc, but all that has gone with the wind.

July 6, 2023
Allahabad HC reserves verdict on Abdullah Azam Khan’s plea seeking stay on conviction

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Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a plea filed by Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan seeking a stay on his conviction by a Moradabad court in a 2008 criminal case.
Justice Rajiv Gupta reserved the order after hearing the counsel for Abdullah Azam Khan and state government’s counsel.
During the hearing, the counsel for the applicant submitted that on the date of the incident the applicant was a juvenile, as such his conviction be stayed by this court.

A criminal case was registered in 2008 against Abdullah Azam Khan and his father and Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan at Chhajlet police station in Moradabad under sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
It is alleged that they had blocked traffic after their vehicle was stopped by the police for checking in Moradabad.
The additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) on February 13, 2023 sentenced Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam Khan to two years of imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 each.
Later, they were granted bail after submitting the required surety.
Two days after the conviction and sentence, Abdullah Azam Khan, an SP MLA, was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. He represented the Suar assembly constituency of Rampur.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 11, 2023
Allahabad HC asks UP govt to upload OBC panel report on website

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Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to upload the OBC Commission’s report on OBC reservation in urban local bodies’ polls on the state Urban Development Department’s website within four days.
The state government had constituted the Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Commission to study the representation of OBCs in the urban local bodies.
The responsibility of the Commission was to collect data on the political backwardness of the OBCs.

A division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manish Kumar passed the order on a writ petition filed by Vikas Agarwal.
Agarwal had challenged the state government’s draft notification issued on March 30, 2023, regarding reservation of Nighasan Nagar Panchayat in the Lakhimpur Kheri district.
In his writ, the petitioner had submitted before the high court that the Commission’s report was not in the public domain, making it impossible for him to file an objection.
“As regards other relief made in this petition, we see no reason to interfere at this stage for the reason that the petitioner has already been informed that the ‘Agarwal’ caste does not fall in the OBC category,” the court said.
“Now, when the petitioner is aware that the seat pertaining to the Nagar Panchayat Nighasan has been reserved for the OBC category and the petitioner does not belong to the same, other relief can be claimed at the appropriate stage as and when the need arises,” the court added.

The Supreme Court on March 27 permitted the State Election Commission to issue notifications to roll out the election process for local bodies in Uttar Pradesh within two days.
Thereafter, a draft notification on reservation in the urban local bodies’ polls was issued on March 30 and the government invited objections by April 6.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 7, 2023
Gyanvapi ‘Shivling’: Allahabad HC slams ASI for not filling report on carbon dating

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Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court (HC) has slammed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Director General (DG), V. Vidyavathi for her failure to file a reply, giving an opinion as to whether a safe evaluation of the age of the Shivling-like structure, purportedly found inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi in May last year, can be done or not.
Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra was hearing a revision petition filed by Laxmi Devi and three others, who challenged the Varanasi court’s order of October 14, 2022.
They had sought a HC direction to the ASI to conduct a scientific probe of the Shivling-like structure through carbon dating and ground penetrating radar (GPR).

Justice Mishra called the ASI official’s attitude “lethargic” and said inaction had hampered the court proceedings.
However, the court gave the ASI DG a last opportunity to file a counter-affidavit in the case by April 17, the next date of hearing.
The HC observed, “Certainly, this lethargic attitude on the part of the Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, is highly deplorable and such practice must be deprecated. The desired report has not been submitted as directed since November 2022.”
“A high authority holding post of Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, controlling particular administration all over the country must know the seriousness of the matter and ought to respect the orders of the court, primarily of higher courts,” the bench added.
The HC clarified that it will not permit any authority to occasion delay on the pretext of the submission of the desired report of the ASI.

Earlier, hearing the matter on November 5, the HC had issued a notice to the ASI, essentially asking the ASI DG, to give her opinion by November 21, 2022.
In its October 14 order, the Varanasi court had rejected Hindu worshippers’ plea for conducting a scientific probe of the Shivling-like structure, reportedly found inside Gyanvapi mosque complex on May 16, 2022.
The Hindu side has been calling the structure in question a Shivling, while the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, has been terming it a fountain.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 6, 2023
Plea of juvenility can be raised even after 22 years: Allahabad HC

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Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court in a landmark judgment has held that the plea of juvenility can be raised even after 22 years during trial.
It has permitted a sister-in law, who was a minor in 2000 at the time of dowry death, to move the plea before the concerned court to get her case transferred to the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) .
Pronouncing the verdict, a bench of Justice Shree Prakash Singh said, “The intent of the legislature is very clear from bare reading of the provisions of Section 7(A) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, which permits the accused to take the plea of being juvenile at the time of incident, seeking benefit of the Act at any stage of the case may it be pretrial, trial or even appeal.”

With this observation, the bench set aside the order of a lower court and asked the petitioner to file her plea of juvenility along with certified court of the order in the said court which would decide it within the next 45 days.
The bench passed the order recently while deciding the plea of the sister-in-law, the petitioner, who alleged she was implicated in the case during the year 2000 when she was only 13. She married and was living with her husband.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Sitapur, has issued a non-bailable warrant against her in the case.
When she filed her plea seeking transfer of case to JJB, CJM rejected the plea on December 7, 2022, saying that the plea was raised after 22 years.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
Allahabad HC notices to Centre, UP govt on illegal meat shops, slaughterhouses

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Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has issued notices to the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government seeking their reply on alleged illegal operations of meat shops and slaughter houses in Ghaziabad.
Notices have also been served to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), animal welfare board of India, commissioner of food safety, Uttar Pradesh, Ghaziabad municipal corporation, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Hearing a PIL filed by Ghaziabad councillor Himanshu Mittal, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh directed the above-mentioned respondents to file their respective replies by May 3.
The PIL has raised state-wide non-compliance of the food safety and standards Act 2006, prevention of cruelty to animals Act, 1960, environment (protection) Act, 1986 and MOEFCC guidelines and various apex court orders.
Appearing for the petitioner, his counsel Akash Vashishtha submitted before the court that in Ghaziabad, out of nearly 3,000 meat shops and slaughterhouses, only 17 have licences under section 31 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
“Only 215 meat establishments are registered with the food safety department under the Act and only 62 improvement notices have been served upon them,” the plea stated.
“None of the meat shops and slaughter houses in the district has mandatory consent to establish and operate under section 25 of the Water Act,”, alleged the petitioner in his PIL.
The petitioner’s counsel further submitted that the perpetual cruelty to animals is being caused in violation of laws.

In the Laxmi Narain Modi matter, the Supreme Court constituted a committee on slaughter houses for each state.
“Such committees are completely defunct across the state. The society for prevention of cruelty to animals, to be constituted in each district, is either non-existent or defunct in most of the districts,” added counsel for the petitioner.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 30, 2023
Remarks against SC: Allahabad HC stays action against Owaisi

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Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government not to take any coercive action against All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi till April 24 in a case pertaining to his controversial remarks against the Supreme Court.
After the apex court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute in 2019, Owaisi had reportedly said that the Supreme Court is supreme “but not infallible”.
Justice Rajiv Gupta of the Allahabad High Court passed the order in a plea filed by Owaisi under Section 482 of the CrPC challenging the summoning order issued by the CJM court, Siddharth Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.
Owaisi’s counsel argued that he is being prosecuted for the offence under Section 153 (A) of the Indian Penal Code, but necessary sanction from the authority concerned, as contemplated under Section 196(1) CrPC, had not been taken and as such, the entire proceeding was ‘bad’ in the eyes of law.
The single-judge bench opined that the matter required consideration and issued notices to the complainant in the matter and fixed April 24 as the next date of hearing in the case.
The court observed, “Till then, no coercive action shall be taken against the applicant in the complaint case (MP/MLA) No. 566 of 2022 (Rakesh Pratap Singh Vs. Asaduddin Owaisi and Another), under Sections 153-A, 295-A, 298 IPC, Police Station Shohratgarh, district Siddharth Nagar, pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Siddharth Nagar.”
A complaint had been filed against Owaisi following his remarks on the Supreme Court’s 2019 judgment in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 26, 2023
Justice Diwaker to be sworn in as Allahabad HC chief justice

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Prayagraj: Justice Pritinker Diwaker will be sworn in as the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court on Sunday.
He will be administered the oath of office by Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel
In a notification dated March 24, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Justice Diwaker as the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.
Till now, Justice Diwaker had been working as the acting chief justice of the court.
Born on November 22, 1961, Justice Diwaker graduated from the Durgawati University, Jabalpur. Initially, he was enrolled as an advocate in the year 1984. During his legal career, he has dealt with constitutional, civil and criminal matters.
He also worked as standing counsel for SAIL, SBI, Chhattisgarh Gramin Bank, Bank of Baroda and IDBI among others.
He was designated as senior advocate by the High Court of Chhattisgarh in January 2005. He was a member of the Madhya Pradesh State Bar Council for seven years and that of the State Bar Council of Chhattisgarh for five years.
Subsequently, he was elevated as a judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court on March 31, 2009. Later, he was transferred to the Allahabad High Court on October 3, 2018 and appointed its acting chief justice on February 13, 2023.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 26, 2023
Allahabad HC reserves order on Atiq’s missing minor sons

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Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has reserved its order on a habeas corpus writ petition seeking to know the whereabouts of the two missing minor sons of jailed mafia don Atiq Ahmed.
Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen had filed the petition alleging that their two minor sons — Ahzan and Aaban — were arrested by the police on February 24 after the killing of Umesh Pal and their whereabouts are not known since then.
Atiq, Shaista, his brother Ashraf and two sons are named as accused in the case.
The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justices Vivek Kumar Birla and Surendra Singh after hearing submissions by counsels for the petitioner and state government.
Appearing on behalf of the petitioner, senior advocate Daya Shankar Mishra argued that the life and liberty of Atiq’s two minor sons are in danger.
Therefore, he requested the court that a direction be issued that they (minors) be produced before the court and set at liberty.
A preliminary objection was raised on behalf of additional advocate general Manish Goyal, who represented the state government, that an application under section 97 of criminal procedure code (CrPC) was already pending before the CJM Allahabad and hence the habeas corpus writ petition was not maintainable.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 24, 2023
Declare cow a protected national animal: Allahabad HC to Centre

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Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court has said that the Centre should take an appropriate decision to ban cow slaughter and declare it as a ‘protected national animal’.
“We live in a secular country and must have respect for all religions. In Hinduism, the belief is that the cow is the representative of divine and natural beneficence. Therefore, it should be protected and venerated,” Justice Shamim Ahmad said while dismissing a plea seeking the quashing of criminal proceedings against a person under the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955.
The petitioner, Mohammad Abdul Khaliq, had pleaded that the police booked him without any evidence and hence the proceedings pending against him in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate should be quashed.
Dismissing the plea, the bench held that from the facts on record, prima facie case was made out against the petitioner.
While passing the order, the judge observed, “The cow has also been associated with various deities, notably Lord Shiva (whose steed is Nandi, a bull) Lord Indra (closely associated with Kamadhenu), Lord Krishna (a shepherd in his youth), and goddesses in general.”
He said, “According to legend, she emerged from the ocean of milk at the time of Samudramanthan (the great churning of the ocean by the gods and demons). She was presented to the seven sages and with time came into the custody of sage Vasishta.”
The judge further said that a cow’s legs symbolise the four Vedas and her milk is four ‘purushartha’ (or human objectives — ‘dharma’ or righteousness, ‘artha’ or material wealth, ‘kama’ or desire and ‘moksha’ or salvation. ‘Her horns symbolise the gods, her face the sun and moon, and her shoulders ‘Agni’ (the god of fire).
The cow has also been described in other forms: Nanda, Sunanda, Surabhi, Susheela and Sumana,’ Justice Ahmad said. He said that the origin of the veneration of the cow can be traced to the Vedic period.

“The Indo-European peoples, who entered India in the second millennium BCE, were pastoralists. Cattle had a major economic significance that was reflected in their religion. The slaughter of milk-producing cows was increasingly prohibited. It is forbidden in the Mahabharata, and in the ‘Manusmriti’. A cow which produces milk was said to be ‘unslayable’ in the Rigveda, the court said.
According to the high court bench, legends also state that Brahma gave life to priests and cows at the same time so that the priests could recite religious scriptures while cows could afford ghee as an offering in rituals.
“Anyone who kills cows or allows others to kill them is deemed to rot in hell for as many years as there are hairs upon his body,” the judge said.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 5, 2023