The Allahabad High Court has given residents of Bahraich's Maharajganj area a 15-day extension to reply to demolition notices served by the Public Works Department, amidst legal concerns regarding the validity of these notices.

The Public Works Department has served notices to 23 establishments – 20 of them belonging to Muslims -- to vacate property. The crackdown comes days after a 22-year-old Hindu man was shot dead in the Maharajganj area of the district during a communal flare-up.

Lucknow: In a major relief to those who have been served notices for demolition of illegal structures raised on the Kundasar-Mahasi-Nanpara-Maharajganj road in Bahraich, the Allahabad High Court on Sunday extended the time to file their replies by 15 days.

In a hearing at 6 PM today, the bench of Justice Attau Rehman Masoodi and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi gave a relief of 15 days to the affected individuals to respond to the Demolition Notices issued by the Uttar Pradesh Government.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Sunday restrained the Uttar Pradesh government from taking any action on encroachment in the Maharajganj town of Bahraich following violence on Sunday last.