National

Court stays demolition of sports complex

Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW: The Mayawati Government’s move to demolish the Bhimrao Ambedkar Stadium in a bid to extend the Ambedkar Memorial Park in Gomtinagar here suffered a setback after the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court stayed the move till July 19.

Giving the State Government three days to file its rejoinder, the bench, comprising Justices Pradeep Kant and D.P. Singh, ordered that status quo ante, which existed before July 9, be maintained. Also, no construction work wo uld take place on the site till the disposal of the case.

The High Court order followed dramatic developments, which saw officials and employees of the sports complex, situated next to the park, being given only four hours to vacate the premises on Monday night. The plan was to raze the complex (bulldozers of the Lucknow Development Authority were kept in readiness) to extend the park.

The Government action caused resentment among sportspersons and sports lovers, and a writ petition was moved late on Monday by Prashant Chandra.

In an unprecedented move, a bench was constituted at the residence of senior judge Justice Pradeep Kant around 1.15 a.m. It pronounced its order around 3.15 a.m. on Tuesday, staying the razing of the stadium till 12 noon. The stay order was extended till July 19 when the case came up for hearing.

The Government came in for sharp criticism in both Houses of the State Legislature.

Its plea that the move was guided by the threat perception to the Ambedkar statue in the park cut no ice with the Opposition.

Raising the issue in the Assembly during zero hour, Hukum Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party accused the Government of misusing its authority.

The sports complex had produced international cricketers such as Suresh Raina and R.P. Singh, but instead of promoting sports, the Government was creating a fear psychosis among sportsmen.

Mr. Singh dismissed the report on the threat perception as “misuse of intelligence agencies by the Government.”

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Lalji Verma said the intelligence report mentioned a threat to the statue, which is why it was decided to get the complex vacated.

The trainees at the sports complex had been shifted to the K.D. Singh “Babu” Stadium. A new stadium of international standards was planned in the Gomtinagar Extension Scheme.

In the Legislative Council, the issue was raised by Ranjit Singh Judeo of the Congress, who described the move as injustice to sportspersons.

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