New Delhi: Equating ‘bulldozer justice’ with a lawless state of affairs where might is right, the Supreme Court on Wednesday laid down pan-India guidelines and said no property should be demolished without a prior show cause notice and the affected must be given 15 days to respond.
The executive cannot assume judicial powers to punish citizens by demolishing their properties without following due process, the apex court said while terming such excesses “high-handed and arbitrary” and ruling that they need to be dealt with the “heavy hand of the law”.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan described as “chilling” the sight of a bulldozer demolishing a building, rendering women, children and aged persons homeless overnight.
On the SC’s directive for action against officials involved in illegal bulldozer action, Rajbhar said, “The court’s orders will be followed. If anyone is found guilty, action will be taken against them.”
Their reactions came as the Supreme Court laid down pan-India guidelines on demolition of properties and said the executive cannot become a judge, declare an accused as guilty and demolish his house.
“After today’s decision of the honourable Supreme Court regarding bulldozer demolitions and the related strict guidelines, it should be expected that UP and other state governments will manage public interest and welfare properly and smoothly and the terror of bulldozers will definitely end now,” Mayawati posted on X in Hindi.
UP Congress chief Rai told PTI: “We welcome the apex court’s decision. Hopefully this decision will end the jungle raj in Uttar Pradesh”.
The Samajwadi Party’s media cell took to social media, noting the apex court has made very strong comments on the bulldozer action and has warned the governments and reprimanded the officials
“The bulldozer action is totally unjust, unfair, unconstitutional and illegal,” the SP’s media cell posted on X.
“BJP governments should stop doing injustice in the name of law and justice. Bulldozers put not just one person but the whole family on the streets and even innocent people become scapegoats,” it said.
“This decision is a tight slap on the face of incompetent, useless, highly corrupt people who run the government/power by considering themselves as God’s incarnation. Hopefully, those responsible must have felt and heard the sound of the slap,” it added. Rajbhar, whose party SBSP is an ally of the ruling BJP, said the top court’s decision was welcome.
“The government never demolishes anyone’s personal property. Bulldozer is run on illegal occupation on public properties. It was the high court’s decision, we do not do it on our own,” Rajbhar told reporters.
“Even if the poor are settled on encroached land, we do not remove them until providing them with alternative residence. The opposition is making hue and cry. Those illegally occupying land are made to vacate and the action is not taken on anyone’s personal property,” he added.
Asked about the court’s scathing observations, Rajbhar, who is the minister for Panchayati Raj, Minority Welfare, Muslim Waqf and Haj, said the houses which have been demolished were not built on private properties but on land belonging to the railways, forest department etc.
He also slammed the previous governments of SP and BSP in the state.
