The Supreme Court, which took suo motu action against the Mayawati government, lauded The Hindu for publishing a fair and balanced report on Friday on the construction activities for memorials in Lucknow.
During the hearing, a Bench consisting of Justices B.N. Agrawal and Aftab Alam read the report and said: “ The Hindu has given a detailed account about the construction activities going on at various sites. A photograph has also been published. The Hindu has been fair enough to give the State government’s denial also. We can’t completely ignore the report.”
In its order, the Bench said: “We may note that there is a denial on behalf of the State government that any construction is in progress and The Hindu has been fair enough to publish the denial by the spokesperson of the Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam. In the news report, it is further stated that the spokesperson, on behalf of the State government, admitted that only maintenance work was being carried out.”
The order said, “But the news report in The Hindu also carries a photograph and unless it is of an earlier date, the photograph tells a different story and makes it clear that the construction activities are very much going on at the Kanshi Ram Sanskritic Sthal and other places in Lucknow as mentioned in the report, which are covered by the undertaking given to this court.”
