Delhi Jahangirpuri violence live updates: Demolition drive on hold after Supreme Court order

Special CP Dependra Pathak, at Jahangirpuri in Delhi: law & order is totally under control. The situation is peaceful. We're maintaining peace & tranquillity in the area. We have adequate deployment. We are in touch with the citizens of the area to maintain peace.

Bulldozers razed several structures in violence-hit Jahangirpuri on Wednesday during an anti-encroachment drive by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation but it was stopped within hours following a Supreme Court order.

The anti-encroachment drive continued even after the Supreme Court directed authorities to stop it.

An NDMC official, requesting anonymity, said the drive continued because of the absence of a written order from the Supreme Court.

It was stopped as soon as the order was received, the official added.

The Supreme Court directed the apex court Secretary-General to convey the earlier order to stop demolition in the riots-hit Jahangirpuri here to the NDMC Mayor and the Delhi Police Commissioner immediately.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana, in the forenoon, ordered the stopping of the drive and also agreed to hear a petition challenging the action of the civic bodies allegedly aimed against the accused of the communal offences.

Despite the apex court's directions, bulldozers were seen razing structures near a mosque in Jahangirpuri's C Block where a violence had erupted on April 16.

The drive went on for 1.5 hours.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped the anti-encroachment drive by authorities in violence-hit Jahangirpuri area here, and agreed to hear a petition challenging the action of the civic bodies allegedly aimed against the riot accused.

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Hitting out at those alleging biased action in the Jahangirpuri violence case, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday said action has been taken on the basis of "crime and conspiracy", not on "caste and community".

The senior BJP leader's remarks came after All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that "one-sided action" is being taken in the Jahangirpuri violence case.

Clashes broke out between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession at Jahangirpuri on Saturday, leaving eight police personnel and a local resident injured. According to police, there was stone-pelting and arson during the clashes and some vehicles were also torched.

Naqvi said the culprits have been arrested on the basis of the crime committed by them and not on the basis of their creed.

No one should be allowed to harm the harmony of society, he said.

Some people are constantly engaged in delivering "no-ball of hate" and "hat-trick of hostility", the minister told reporters here.

The country and society will never allow such "defeated players" to disturb communal and social harmony, Naqvi said.

Delhi HC says it will not take up a plea over the demolition drive in Jahangiripuri following communal clash in on Hanuman Jayanti. The HC bench says now that the SC is seized of the matter, there is nothing for us to say.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the government over the use of bulldozers in violence-hit areas of Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to switch off "bulldozers of hate" and switch on power plants.

He also raised the issue of coal shortage in the country and shared a news report that claims that India stares at outages as coal stocks at power plants hit a low.

"Eight years of big talk has resulted in India having only 8 days of coal stocks," he said on Twitter.

"Modi ji, stagflation is looming. Power cuts will crush small industries, leading to more job losses.

"Switch off the bulldozers of hate and switch on the power plants," he also said.

Gandhi's reference was to the use of bulldozers in the anti-encroachment drive in Delhi's violence-hit Jahangirpuri and in Madhya Pradesh against people who the BJP alleges have indulged in rioting.

"India is left only with 8 days of coal stocks. The fire burning on the streets because of BJP's hateful politics will not light up homes," the Congress also said on its official Twitter handle.

A day after the communal violence on Ram Navami in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone, the district administration demolished houses and shops of those accused of stone pelting. The administration termed their properties as "illegal'. But is this demolition drive legal, or was it arbitrary?

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CPIM leader Brinda Karat: Demolition drive has been stopped. I appeal to people of Jahangirpur to maintain peace & harmony & wait for SC's next order. Demolition was against the Constitution. 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped the anti-encroachment drive by authorities in violence-hit Jahangirpuri area here, and agreed to hear a petition challenging the action of the civic bodies allegedly aimed against the riot accused.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana ordered status quo in the present situation, and said the petition would be listed before an appropriate bench.