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The Additional District Judge of the Sultanpur District Court Manoj Kumar Shukla has been suspended by the Allahabad High Court. Shukla had lain down all night in front of a bulldozer to protest against the acquisition of his ancestral land for the construction of the Hariya-Rajwaha Saryu canal in Chhapia Shukal village in Basti district last month.

Shukla had lain in front of a JCB bulldozer wearing a coat, pants, and a tie and a video of the same had gone viral on social media as well.

As per the high court website, Shukla is presently suspended since April 3 and attached to the headquarters Sonbhadra. It, however, doesn’t mention the reason behind the suspension of Shukla, who has been posted in Sultanpur since 2019.

After the incident, the District Magistrate of Basti had sent a report to the State Government and thereafter, the government had also forwarded the same to the Allahabad High Court.

The 28-km-long Hariya-Rajwaha Saryu canal, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated last year, is part of the Saryu Nahar National Project.

According to a news report in The Indian Express, as the process of land acquisition for the project began, the irrigation department wrote a letter to the Basti district administration, seeking their help in acquiring land. In furtherance of the same, letters were sent to the landowners which included Shukla's father.