The Supreme Court came up with detailed protocols on how it would stop arbitrary demolitions of structures on Wednesday, noting that the rule of law and due process should prevail.
This historical decision seeks to address what the court called ‘bulldozer justice,’ or where authorities take the law into their own hands, evicting accused persons in criminal cases and reducing their properties to dust without regard for legal process. Speaking for the bench with justices Bhushan Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan, Chauhan clarified that the bench is against demolitions being used as a punishment for people accused or convicted of crimes. The judgment simply reminded us that shelter is right and property cannot be demolished without legal cause.
Justice Gavai, while pronouncing the judgment, said, “The rule of law shuns arbitrariness,” while elaborating that the confidence of the public in the government is based on the preservation of the rights of the people and their properties from arbitrary actions of the executive arm of government. He further stresses that if the state is trying to prosecute such individuals, it cannot jump the judiciary and act both as the prosecutor and as an executor by sending the accused to jail without trial.
Relying on Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court laid down certain procedures that have to be strictly adhered to by all the states and Union territories before lawfully going for the demolitions to eliminate the possibility of the act being arbitrary. Among them is the provision that any demolition has to be preceded by a written notice.
It should identify particular infractions and notify property managers that they have at least fifteen business days to reply. Also, notices have to be delivered by registered post, affixing copies of the same somewhere conspicuous on the structure together with reasons leading to demolition and an opportunity to be heard by the property owner.
Moreover, the Supreme Court, being more precise, clarified that before any demolition occurs, the owners of the affected properties should be provided a personal hearing. Legal personalities must publish their orders with a statement as speaking orders on why it had decided as it has.
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