HC notice to Guj govt over 'religious discrimination' in civic

The Gujarat High Court today issued notice to the state government and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) over a PIL, which alleged there was discrimination on religious ground in providing civic amenities to different localities of the city.
A division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice Vipul M Pancholi issued notices to the Secretary, Urban Development and Urban Housing Department of Gujarat government and Municipal Commissioner of AMC, seeking their replies within a month.
A PIL had been filed by NGO Jan Sangharsh Manch in this regard, in which it requested the court to direct concerned authorities to provide "basic civic amenities to the residents of Muslim localities".

The petitioners had approached the court claiming that the AMC did not respond to "several reminders" sent to it to "provide basic civic amenities like drinking water, drainage, street lights, disposal of garbage etc to residents of several housing societies belonging to Muslim community... Situated in Jodhpur Ward of Ahmedabad city at the earliest."
Petitioners alleged that there were "glaring differences in the status of civic facilities in Hindu housing societies and Muslim housing societies".
AMC had miserably failed to discharge its duty under the provisions of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, they said adding, "This action on the part of respondents is arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of Article 14 and Article 15.