India / SC dismisses plea seeking President's rule in Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking imposition of President's rule in Uttar Pradesh in view of alleged extra-judicial killings and issues of violations of human rights in the State.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde refused to entertain the plea and dismissed the petition.

Advocate C R Jaya Sukin, who filed the plea, argued that extra-judicial killings, arbitrary killings have been taking place in Uttar Pradesh but till date, the Union of India has not given any advice.

During the hearing, Chief Justice asked Sukin whether he has studied the criminal records of other states.

The advocate replied that of the total number of crimes in India, more than 30 per cent are in Uttar Pradesh. To this, the Bench asked for the records on his claims.

"Have you studied the crime data in other states? Show us on what basis you are saying this? There is no research on what you are saying. You have not annexed a d report/study. How are your fundamental rights getting violated?" the Bench said.

The plea referring to the alleged Hathras gang rape case said Uttar Pradesh ranks as the most unsafe state for women in the country and cited a string of incidents establishing a gross violation of human rights in the state.

The PIL cited the annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released in January 2020. It said a case of rape is registered with the Uttar Pradesh police every two hours while crime against a child is reported every 90 minutes in the state.

"That report claims that 4,322 cases of rape were reported in 2018, with almost 12 taking place daily and state also recorded 59,445 crimes against women with 162 being reported every day, which indicates a surge of 7 per cent in 2017 when 56,011 crimes - 153 crimes per day - were registered," the plea stated.

The plea also said that an NGO also reported that, through CAA protest, the state government on 77 occasions temporarily shut down the internet in different locations across the state. The Uttar Pradesh government continued to block telecommunications and internet connections in certain regions during periods of political unrest or peaceful protest.

It further referred to the Dr Kafeel Khan case, saying he was thrown into jail for months after pointing out the lack of oxygen cylinders because of which many children died in a Gorakhpur hospital.

The petition said that mob lynching in Uttar Pradesh take place very often and police are not taking action against criminals. Media outlets reported more than 20 instances of mob lynching of individuals believed to be child abductors or animal theft, it added.

The petitioner urged the apex court to issue a direction, particularly in the nature of a writ, for the imposition of Article 356 of the Constitution of India in Uttar Pradesh immediately.

Article 356 of the Constitution of India empowers the President to withdraw from the Union the executive and legislative powers of any state "if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution".