Deletion of Eid-e-Milad from UP holiday list by Yogi govt challenged in HC

Eid-e-Milad or Barawafat commemorates the birth and death anniversaries of Prophet Muhammad.

The Allahabad high court on Friday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to produce a copy of its notification whereby Eid-e-Milad or Barawafat was cancelled from the list of state holidays.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath had expressed concern over the shrinking academic session due to increased holidays. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

A division bench of Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice Yashwant Varma passed the order on a petition filed by Bashir Beg of Bareilly district who challenged the April 25 notification by which the Yogi Adityanath government had slashed about 15 state holidays, including Eid-e-Milad or Barawfat.

The petitioner has, however, made it clear in the plea that he was concerned only with Barawafat and not with other holidays deleted from the list.

His contention was that Barawafat had been declared a public holiday by the Centre under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and the state government cannot remove it from the list of state holidays.

Eid-e-Milad or Barawafat commemorates the birth and death anniversaries of Prophet Muhammad.

The court fixed July 12 as the next date of hearing in the matter.