The court said, the petitioners described themselves as slum dwellers and did not provide true facts.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed the petitions of 24 occupiers of commercial spaces in Akbar Nagar, paving the way for the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) to demolish their illegal establishments.
Following the High Court order, the LDA took action to demolish shops and other commercial establishments in Akbar Nagar on Ayodhya Road on Tuesday evening.
A division bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Om Prakash Shukla said on Tuesday: “Considering the entire matter, this court finds no reason to exercise its discretionary jurisdiction in favor of the petitioners; Thus, all the writ petitions are dismissed.”
“The interim orders passed earlier, if any, are quashed in respect of the aforesaid petitioners,” the court said.
Of the 73 residents of Akbar Nagar who filed income tax/GST, 24 had approached the High Court challenging the demolition orders of the LDA. Passing the order, the court said that after reviewing the documents submitted by the petitioners, it was clear that they were neither slum residents nor did their establishments fall in the slum area.
“The petitioners presented themselves as slum dwellers and did not provide true facts,” the court said.
Chief standing counsel advocate Shailendra Kumar Singh represented the state government in the court. The High Court divided the petitioners from Akbarnagar into two categories, taxpayers and BPL card holders, and heard them separately.
The court completed the hearing on the petitions of about 1,100 BPL cardholders on Monday (February 26) and reserved the decision. Residents of Akbar Nagar moved the High Court last December against the LDA’s demolition order, claiming the entire area was illegal and built on the river bed and banks of Kukrail.