SC okays Lucknow jail demolition

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Uttar Pradesh government to demolish a jail in Lucknow after it assured the court that the land would not be used for building monuments.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Uttar Pradesh government to demolish a jail in Lucknow after it assured the court that the land would not be used for building monuments.

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A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan vacated the stay granted by the Allahabad High Court on the
demolition of structures and felling of trees in the Model Jail campus.

The Lucknow Bench of the High Court had restrained the state government from carrying out any demolition and
construction activities in the jail where inmates are still staying and had asked the authorities to put before it the details of what they proposed to bring up at the site.

Senior Advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the state, assured the Bench, also comprising Justices P Sathasivam and J M Panchal, that the land would be used for building an ecological park.

He informed the court that a new jail has been built with all the facilities for 4,660 persons at a cost of Rs 210 crore and all the prisoners would be soon shifted to that jail.