The Crossbill News Desk
The Allahabad high court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to rehabilitate and relocate the family of the 2020 Hathras gangrape and murder victim to Ghaziabad or Noida within three months, expressing dissatisfaction with the state's handling of the family's repeated request for relocation.
A bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh passed the order on Monday (August 24), setting aside a February 2025 decision of the state government that had offered the family rehabilitation in Kasganj, Etah or Aligarh instead of the locations sought by them, Live Law reported.
“We accordingly set aside the decision dated 22.02.2025 and direct the State Government to rehabilitate and relocate the victim’s family in Ghaziabad or Noida, as the case may be, positively within three months,” said the court.
The court said the Uttar Pradesh government had failed to properly consider its earlier directions and the family's request to be relocated to Ghaziabad or Noida.
“There appears to be an unnecessary resistance by the State to a consideration as was ordered by us vide our order dated 26.09.2024, 14.11.2024 and 08.01.2025,” observed a bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh on Monday.
The court held that the state government's February 2025 decision could not be treated as a valid consideration of the family's request, as it had offered alternative locations without examining the possibility of relocating them to Ghaziabad or Noida.
According to the court, the February decision was therefore “no decision in the eyes of law”.
The high court has also directed the additional chief secretary (Home), Government of Uttar Pradesh, to file a compliance affidavit after the relocation is carried out. It warned that the official would have to appear before the court personally if the order was not complied with.
The direction follows a series of earlier orders concerning the rehabilitation and safety of the victim's family.
On July 26, 2022, the high court had directed the state government to consider relocating the family to a place outside Hathras within Uttar Pradesh, taking into account their social and economic rehabilitation as well as the educational requirements of the children.
The court also reiterated on Monday that one member of the victim's family should be provided employment, as directed in its July 2022 order, after the family is rehabilitated.
The case dates back to 2020, when the alleged gangrape and subsequent death of a young Dalit woman in Hathras triggered nationwide outrage and intense scrutiny of the Uttar Pradesh government and the local administration.
The handling of the case, including the circumstances surrounding the victim's cremation and concerns expressed by the family over their security and social isolation, had drawn widespread criticism.
With the latest order, the state government has been given a three-month deadline to move the family to either Ghaziabad or Noida, ending, at least for now, a prolonged legal battle over their rehabilitation outside Hathras.
A bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh passed the order on Monday (August 24), setting aside a February 2025 decision of the state government that had offered the family rehabilitation in Kasganj, Etah or Aligarh instead of the locations sought by them, Live Law reported.
“We accordingly set aside the decision dated 22.02.2025 and direct the State Government to rehabilitate and relocate the victim’s family in Ghaziabad or Noida, as the case may be, positively within three months,” said the court.
The court said the Uttar Pradesh government had failed to properly consider its earlier directions and the family's request to be relocated to Ghaziabad or Noida.
“There appears to be an unnecessary resistance by the State to a consideration as was ordered by us vide our order dated 26.09.2024, 14.11.2024 and 08.01.2025,” observed a bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh on Monday.
The court held that the state government's February 2025 decision could not be treated as a valid consideration of the family's request, as it had offered alternative locations without examining the possibility of relocating them to Ghaziabad or Noida.
According to the court, the February decision was therefore “no decision in the eyes of law”.
The high court has also directed the additional chief secretary (Home), Government of Uttar Pradesh, to file a compliance affidavit after the relocation is carried out. It warned that the official would have to appear before the court personally if the order was not complied with.
The direction follows a series of earlier orders concerning the rehabilitation and safety of the victim's family.
On July 26, 2022, the high court had directed the state government to consider relocating the family to a place outside Hathras within Uttar Pradesh, taking into account their social and economic rehabilitation as well as the educational requirements of the children.
The court also reiterated on Monday that one member of the victim's family should be provided employment, as directed in its July 2022 order, after the family is rehabilitated.
The case dates back to 2020, when the alleged gangrape and subsequent death of a young Dalit woman in Hathras triggered nationwide outrage and intense scrutiny of the Uttar Pradesh government and the local administration.
The handling of the case, including the circumstances surrounding the victim's cremation and concerns expressed by the family over their security and social isolation, had drawn widespread criticism.
With the latest order, the state government has been given a three-month deadline to move the family to either Ghaziabad or Noida, ending, at least for now, a prolonged legal battle over their rehabilitation outside Hathras.
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