Lucknow's Sheroes Cafe gets nine-month relief

On the brink of being closed, cafe Sheroes, run by a group of acid attack survivors in Lucknow, got major relief from Supreme Court on Wednesday when it gave Allahabad High Court nine months to decide on their petition challenging the notice of eviction. Till such time, the Court has allowed the cafe to operate.

The cafe, operating in the heart of Lucknow, began in 2016 as an initiative by the then UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was impressed by the successful run of the cafe's Agra branch, similarly run by acid attack survivors. A memorandum of understanding was signed by Chhanv Foundation, on behalf of the acid attack survivors and the UP Mahila Kalyan Nigam, to jointly run the cafe on a two-year lease. The lease expired in March 2018, following which, the Nigam issued a notice to the Foundation on September 22 to vacate the premises September 29.

Chhanv challenged the notice before the Allahabad High Court on the ground that vague reasons, such as, financial irregularities in the running of the cafe and it being unviable to continue the project, were given. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad HC decided to extend the eviction date until October 22, but refused to stay the notice.

HC To Decide

The SC bench of Justices R Banumathi and Indira Banerjee took a considerate view of the matter and asked the Allahabad HC to decide the petition in nine months