India News | HC Takes Cognisance of Army Major's Car 'set Ablaze' by Group of Men in Lucknow

Lucknow, Jan 11 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has taken suo-motu cognisance of an incident in which an Army major's car was allegedly set ablaze by some unidentified men in the Gomti Nagar area here after he had objected to loud music being played at a hotel.

The incident took place in the Vishal Khand area of Gomtinagar on January 9, when the men set Major Abhijit Singh's car afire when he objected to loud music being played in a hotel in his neighbourhood.

Also Read | RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Says 'Muslims Must Abandon Their Boisterous Rhetoric of Supremacy'.

The Lucknow bench of the high court said from media reports, it has come out that the hotel was being run illegally and as such, it has been established that unauthorised hotels are running in the city.

Blaming the Lucknow Development Authority for its failure to stop unauthorised hotels from operating in the city, a bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice BR Singh asked the LDA to furnish its explanation in this regard on January 30.

Also Read | Air India Urination Incident: Bail Denied to Shankar Mishra, Delhi Court Says Act Was ‘Utterly Disgusting’.

The incident came to the notice of the bench while it was hearing a batch of PILs on the loud sound of loudspeakers and pressure horns and the use of modified vehicles.

It said recently, a tragic fire incident had occurred in the Levana Suites hotel, which was constructed and being run in unauthorised manner.

"Since then, a period of about four months has passed. From the news item published on Tuesday, it is established that unauthorised hotels are still functioning in the city. That means the LDA has failed to take any action," the bench observed in its order.

It also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to file a comprehensive affidavit, explaining why heavy vehicles are allowed in the city in the no-entry hours.

The bench also sought the government's reply on the use of modified vehicles in Lucknow. The petitioner's counsel said even on Tuesday, he had taken photographs of modified vehicles and heavy vehicles running in the city in the no-entry hours.

The LDA sealed the Milano and Cafe hotel on Tuesday in connection with the alleged torching of the Army major's car.

In a complaint submitted to the police, Singh said at around 3.30 am on Monday, he saw a fire in the portico of his house and subsequently, saw his car burning. By the time he could extinguish the fire, the car was completely burnt.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)