HC seeks reply from UP Govt on PIL over Amethi district

Lucknow, Aug 22: The

on Thursday sought a reply from

on a

challenging creation of

district on the ground that no infrastructure has been provided.

The order was passed here by the bench of Chief Justice Shiva Kirti Singh and Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya on two PILs filed by Ved Prakash Singh and others.

The Lucknow bench of the court granted the state counsel two weeks time to file a short counter affidavit. The petitioner submitted that though the new district has been created, required infrastructure has not been provided.

He submitted that there is no meaning of creating the new district without necessary infrastructure. He prayed that Rs 2,000 crore is required for the necessary infrastructure which should be provided by the state government. Appearing on behalf of the government, Additional Advocate General Bulbul Godiyal sought time for seeking instructions from the government.

The court granted the state counsel two weeks time to file a short counter affidavit. It also gave time to the petitioner to file a supplementary affidavit giving details of the necessary infrastructure needed. In July, the Akhilesh Yadav government had granted district status to Amethi, after the Allahabad high court had asked it to issue a fresh notification to this effect.

The notification had brought four assembly constituencies -- Tiloi, Gauriganj, Amethi and Musafirkhana -- under the umbrella of Amethi, the parliamentary constituency of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

PTI