The Hindu : Other States / Uttar Pradesh News : Supreme Court refuses to stay order quashing abolition of U.P. districts

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Saturday, Jun 05, 2004

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Supreme Court refuses to stay order quashing abolition of U.P. districts

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 4. The Mulayam Singh Yadav Government suffered a major blow today after the Supreme Court refused to stay an order of the Allahabad High Court quashing a decision of the Uttar Pradesh Government to abolish nine districts and four Commissioner divisions created during 1995-97 by the then Chief Minister, Mayawati.

A vacation Bench, comprising Justice Ruma Pal and Justice B.N. Agrawal, however, issued notice to the respondents on a Special Leave Petition filed by the State challenging the May 21 judgment of the High Court directing continuance of the districts and the divisions. Appearing for the State Government, L.M. Singhvi, Mukul Rohtagi and Rajeev Dhavan pleaded for a stay of the operation of the High Court order.

When the Bench pointed out that prima facie the High Court had given a very well reasoned order, counsel said the decision to scrap the districts was taken on January 30 and the High Court had stayed the same on February 3. During the intervening period of four days, several officers had been transferred and it would be inconvenient for the administration if the High Court order was not stayed.

The Bench said, "You transfer people at the drop of a hat; so it does not matter what action you had taken during the intervening period of only four days as the districts were created way back during 1995-97," and declined to stay the impugned judgment.

The State Government, by an order dated January 13, abolished the Devi Patan, Basti, Mirzapur and Saharanpur divisions and the creation of the Jyotiba Phule Nagar, Shrawasti, Mahamaya Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Kaushambi, Auriya, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Chandauli and Ambedkar Nagar districts.

In its SLP, the Government contended that the decision to abolish the districts was taken in the larger public interest as well as in the interests of the financial and administrative wellbeing of the State. The power to create, alter, abolish divisions, districts, tehsils and sub-divisions was vested exclusively with the Government under the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Act. "Due to the abolition of the districts and divisions, no loss has been caused to the public or to the revenue and on the contrary a huge sum has been saved from being wasted, which would be used in the welfare of the general public and for developmental works," the SLP said and prayed for quashing the impugned judgment and an interim stay.

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Supreme Court refuses to stay order quashing abolition of U.P. districts