PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad High Court will hear a plea on Saturday challenging the demolition drive against illegal construction in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal.
The petition named the state government, the District Magistrate, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Sambhal, the Additional District Magistrate (ADM), the Tehsildar, and the village council of Gosulbara Ravan Buzurg as parties.
On Dussehra, the district administration in Sambhal launched a major demolition drive against encroachments, bringing down a mosque and a marriage hall built on government land in Rawa Buzurg village.
The operation, carried out on October 2, turned the area into a heavy security zone. Nearly 200 police and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel were deployed. Drones were also used to monitor the exercise in real time.
According to SDM Vikas Chandra, the marriage hall had been constructed on land recorded as a government pond.
"The village has two government records -- plot number 691 designated for a pond and plot number 459 earmarked as a compost pit. The hall stood on pond land, and hence it has been demolished, " he said.
The administration also served notice to a mosque that had come up on compost pit land in the same village.
However, after representatives of the mosque management committee requested four days' time, the administration granted a temporary moratorium.