Mar 25, 2025 07:25 PM IST
In its guidelines, the apex court had said the authorities must issue a show cause notice with a 15-day notice period for the accused to respond before demolishing the alleged illegal structure.
The Supreme Court Monday once again highlighted the importance of due process in the execution of orders regarding demolition of constructions that violate municipal building laws. The two-judge bench expressed shock at authorities bulldozing houses in Prayagraj in March 2021 within 24 hours of notifying the occupants that their homes stood on land linked (erroneously) to gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed. Last November, the apex court, faced with an avalanche of complaints about state-directed demolitions, issued guidelines to be followed by municipal authorities. It held that arbitrary action in a case heard by a court subverted the latter’s authority; the authorities were assuming an adjudicatory role to determine the guilt of an accused and even punish him. It held that the demolition orders violated the principle of natural justice, citizens’ right to shelter, and inflicted collective punishment on the family of the accused. In its guidelines, the court said the authorities must issue a show cause notice with a 15-day notice period for the accused to respond before demolishing the alleged illegal structure. Action that ignores the guidelines would be deemed contempt of court.
Some administrations have deliberately ignored the Court’s directives. On Monday, the apex court issued a contempt notice to the Malvan municipal council in Maharashtra for razing the shop and home of a person accused of raising anti-India slogans during an India-Pakistan cricket match. In Nagpur, the civic body demolished the residence of a person accused of instigating a riot last week before the high court stayed the action.
Many of these demolitions are retributory acts undertaken with the open or tacit support of the political executive and mostly targeting members of the minority community. When even chief ministers hail such action, officials feel emboldened to ignore judicial directives and flout the first principle of natural justice — that an accused is deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. For this to change, leaders in office must cease supporting vindictive actions and tell the administration in clear terms that the rule of law and due process are sacrosanct. The Constitution, not the bulldozer, must guide the State.
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