274 recovery notices against anti-CAA protesters withdrawn

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government Friday told the Supreme Court that it has withdrawn 274 recovery notices and proceedings initiated against anti-CAA protestors in 2019 for damages caused to public and private properties.

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant said the state government will refund the entire amount worth crores of rupees, recovered from the alleged protestors due to the proceedings initiated in 2019.

It granted liberty to the UP government to proceed against alleged anti-CAA protestors under the new law -- Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Act notified on August 31, 2020.

The bench refused to accept the submission of Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad that the protestors and the state government be allowed to move the claim tribunal instead of directing refunds.

On February 11, the top court had pulled up the UP government for acting on the recovery notices issued to the alleged anti-CAA protestors in December 2019 and gave one final opportunity to it to withdraw the proceedings and warned that it will quash the proceedings for being in violation of the law.

It had said that the proceedings initiated in December 2019 were contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court and cannot be sustained.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by one Parwaiz Arif Titu seeking quashing of notices sent to alleged protestors by the district administration for recovering losses caused by damage to public properties during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) agitations in UP and asked the state to respond to it. The plea has alleged that such notices have been sent in an "arbitrary manner" against a person who had died six years ago at the age of 94 and also to several others including two people who are aged above 90.