The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday directed to maintain status quo till October 5 on a piece of land at Dayalbagh in Agra on which Radhasoami Satsang Bhawan is situated.
A single-judge bench of Justice Manish Kumar Nigam passed the order on a petition filed by Radhasoami Satsang Sabha challenging a demolition proceeding by the Agra administration.
On September 24, a clash broke out between members of Satsang Sabha and police when a revenue team reached the disputed land to demolish the "illegal" construction. Several people were injured in the incident.
It is alleged that Radhasoami Satsang Sabha has illegally built the building on the "public land".
When the matter was taken before the high court on Wednesday, an amendment application was moved on behalf of the petitioner which was allowed by the court and the petitioner was directed to incorporate the same in the writ petition.
State counsel opposed the petition by saying that the construction had been raised by encroaching the land. However, the court said that arguments have to be heard on the next date of hearing on October 5.
The bone of contention was the gates installed on public land connecting the city with villages near the Yamuna river.
On September 23, district authorities, accompanied by police, had reached the disputed land and parts of "illegal" constructions, including the gates, were demolished. However, the members of Radhasoami Satsang Sabha again erected the gates.
On September 24, around 200 members of the Satsang Sabha, including women and children, protested the action of the Agra administration and pelted stones to stop the demolition drive.
Later, an FIR was registered at New Agra police station against members of the Satsang Sabha for disrupting the demolition drive and encroaching upon government land.
“Revenue department had demanded the deployment of the police force to remove illegal encroachment in Dayalbagh done by Radhasoami Satsang Sabha. The members of the Sabha disrupted the demolition exercise and indulged in stone pelting. This resulted in several policemen getting injured. For now, the exercise to remove encroachments has been halted,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Suraj Kumar had said.
-With PTI Input
