New Delhi, March 6: The Supreme Court has sternly criticized the Uttar Pradesh government for demolishing the homes of a lawyer, a professor, and several others in Prayagraj without adhering to legal procedures.
A bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and N. Kotiswar Singh remarked that such actions send a shocking and inappropriate message. "After all, there is something known as Article 21 and the Right to Shelter," the Court emphasized on Wednesday.
The State’s counsel argued that notices were affixed to the properties before the demolitions occurred. However, the Court dismissed this claim as "hyper-technical" and asserted that it knew how to handle such issues. The Court described the government's actions as drastic and nothing less than an overbearing instance of demolition.
The Court was hearing a plea filed by Advocate Zulfiqar Haider, Professor Ali Ahmed, and three other individuals whose homes were demolished by state authorities. The petitioners contended that they had received notices about the demolitions just a day before the action took place in March 2021.
Senior Advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari, representing the petitioners, argued that the authorities had mistakenly identified the land where his clients' homes were situated as property belonging to gangster Atiq Ahmed, who was murdered in 2023. Bhandari urged the authorities to acknowledge their error.
The Court questioned the State on why the notices were merely posted at the properties rather than being sent via courier, as required by law. The Court further directed that the demolished structures be rebuilt. "If you want to contest this by filing an affidavit, then fine. Otherwise, a less embarrassing way would be to let them rebuild their homes and serve proper notices under the law," the Court stated.
Advocate Rohini Dua represented the petitioners in the case.
