NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday directed the Railway authorities to maintain status quo for 10 days on demolition drive being carried out by them to remove encroachments near Krishna Janambhoomi in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.
"Let there be status quo as regards the subject premises for a period of 10 days. List after a week,” a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose, Sanjay Kumar and S V N Bhatti said, after hearing a counsel for petitioner Yakub Shah and others.
The court also issued notice to Centre and railways in the matter.
Appearing for Shah, senior advocate P C Sen submitted that this is a demolition matter near Krishna Janmabhoomi and many have been houses have already been bulldozed.
He sought urgent intervention of the court, alleging that the authorities conducted the exercise on a day when UP courts were closed.
The plea claimed the demolition drive by railway authorities to clear encroachments near Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura, would adversely affect about 3000 people who have been living at those places since the 1800s.
The railways decided to clear encroachments behind the temple complex, primarily consisting of residential structures, as part of the efforts to convert an existing metre gauge railway track to a broad-gauge track, to facilitate a connection between Mathura and Vrindavan.
Shah and others claimed the action of demolition during the pendency of an appeal against the before Mathura Civil court is absolutely illegal, arbitrary and in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.
