The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered to maintain status quo on railway authorities' demolition drive to clear illegal structures near the Krishna Janmabhoomi in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura for 10 days.
"Let there be status quo as regards the subject premises for a period of 10 days," an apex court bench said in a notice issued to the central government and the Indian Railways, asking the matter to be listed again after one week.
The petitioner Yakub Shah's lawyer told the three-judge bench presided by Justice Aniruddha Bose that 100 houses have been demolished and only 70 to 80 houses are remaining.
āThe whole thing will become infructuous. They conducted the exercise on a day when Uttar Pradesh courts were closed," he told the bench, which also comprises judges Sanjay Kumar and SVN Bhatti. He added that 3,000 families, most of whom have been living in the area since the 1800s, will be affected by the drive.
The lawyer urged the court to intevene, saying the railway authorities chose a day when UP courts were closed to bulldoze the buildings.
The railway authorities said the drive was carried out as part of making land available for converting the Mathura-Vrindavan narrow gauge to broad gauge.
The latest ruling comes two days after the Shri Krishna Janma Mukti Nirman Trust had moved the top court against the Allahabad High Court's dismissal of its request for a survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque near the Mathura temple.
-- with PTI inputs
