Anti-CAA protest in Lucknow: Notice to rights lawyer, ex-IPS to pay up Rs 64 lakh

Advocate Mohammad Shoaib, ex-IPS SR Darapuri

By A Representative
Uttar Pradesh-based human rights sdvocate Mohammad Shoaib, who is also state president of the Socialist Party (India), retired Indian Police Services (IPS) officer SR Darapuri, a rights campaigner, and others accused of “instigating violence” during protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Lucknow, have been served notices for recovery of Rs 64,37,637, threatened with seizure of property in the event of non-payment within a week.
Protesting against the move, the Socialist Party (India) said, Shoaib was under house arrest in Lucknow on December 19, 2019, when nationwide protests against CAA and NRC took place, “yet he was charged with instigating violence and had to spend a month in jail.”
A statement signed by prominent social activist Sandeep Pandey, who is also vice-president of the party, said, “Even the accused could be proved guilty by a court of law, all accused in this case were served notices for recovery of damage to public and private property caused during violence on that day. Their photos were put up in hoardings at prominent places in the city.”
Demanding withdrawal of the “false cases", the statement said, “Now during coronavirus crisis when the hospitals have not yet started entertaining patients in Outdoor Patient Departments, other departments are functioning with reduced staff, businesses have not fully started, all educational institutions are closed and essential services like Railways are not fully operational, the government instead of dealing with corona threat seriously, has enough time to take vindictive action against people involved in anti-CAA-NRC protests.”