The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Friday approved “UP Recovery of damage to public properties Ordinance-2020” for recovery of losses due to damage to government and private properties during political processions.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday told the Uttar Pradesh government that there is “no law” which backs its action of putting up posters on roadsides with details of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in Lucknow
The top court, while referring the appeal of the state government to a larger three-judge bench next week on the ground that it required “further elaboration and consideration” to put a poster, saying whether the fundamental right to privacy of alleged protesters can be waived by the state by “castigating them for all times” to come.

The UP cabinet took a decision in this regard by holding a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday evening.

“The cabinet has approved UP Recovery of damage to public properties Ordinance-2020 for recovery of losses of government and private properties during political processions, illegal agitations,” UP Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna after the cabinet meeting spoke to the journalists.

When asked about the rules and regulations regarding this, the minister said, “Niyamawali me sari cheez spasht ho jayegi” (Everything will be clear in the rules and regulations being framed).

“As per the SC decision to constitute recovery tribunal to recover losses to the government and private properties in political and illegal agitations in the country, the resolution to bring the ordinance has been passed in the cabinet,” he said.

Cabinet Minister Sidharth Nath Singh said presently recovery was done through government order (GO) but after the SC orders the ordinance was brought in.

He also said that during the cabinet meeting, all the ministers praised the chief minister for his decision “to approach Supreme Court as it will help prevent incidents of vandalism and damage of properties in future.”

A vacation bench of SC, consisting  of justices U U Lalit and Aniruddha Bose did not stay the Allahabad High Court’s March 9 order asking the Lucknow administration to remove the posters.

Over the ‘name and shame’ hoardings case in which the Allahabad High Court ordered the immediate removal of the hoardings, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government moved the Supreme Court seeking a freeze on the order.

Allahabad High Court had on Monday ordered the immediate removal of the hoardings, which the UP government had not complied with.

In around 100 hoardings which were at different intersections in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, some people were asked to pay for damage to public property and also warned of property attachment in case of non-compliance.

However, the judges had said that they are not concerned about the compensation, but the government’s disclosure of personal details of the accused persons.

The judges of the Allahabad High Court had cited the Right to Privacy as a fundamental human right recognised by the Supreme Court and said the government’s move was an unwarranted interference in privacy.

The court in its judgment had referred to the larger issue of the injury caused to the precious constitutional value and its shameless depiction by the administration.

Violent protest against the contentious CAA was witnessed by Uttar Pradesh that took the lives of around 22 people.

The installation of hoardings had attracted strong reactions from protesters, political parties, ordinary citizens, legal experts, and social activists, who slammed the idea of public shaming in this manner.

In one particular photograph put up on the hoardings, the photograph of a minor was also seen.

The High Court had also directed the district magistrate and the Lucknow police commissioner to submit a compliance report on or before March 16.
The posters were displayed to “name and shame” the accused who had allegedly caused damage to public property during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the state capital on December 19 last year.

Besides IPS officer SR Darapuri, activist-politician Sadaf Jafar is among those whose names and photos have been put up at major road crossings in Lucknow.

Earlier, in January, a UP court, in a major setback for the government, had granted bail to 48 people accused of rioting and attempted murder by the state police during the violent December protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had earlier in December said that his government will take revenge against those involved in the violence and will auction their properties to compensate for the losses.

(With PTI inputs)