Supreme Court bans bulldozer action, issues this order on Jamiat’s petition till October 1

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Tuesday banned demolition i.e. bulldozer action. This ban has been imposed till October 1. Court says that action will be taken only on public encroachment. While giving instructions to the states on bulldozer action, the court has said that glorification of bulldozer justice should be stopped.

Remove encroachment only under legal process. Solicitor General said that bulldozers are being run on illegal construction only after notice. On this, Justice BR Gavai said that there will be freedom to demolish illegal constructions done on roads, streets, footpaths or public places with proper process.

What did the Supreme Court say about bulldozer action?
Let us tell you that the court said this while hearing the petition of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind filed against the demolition action by bulldozer in many states including Uttar Pradesh. Solicitor Tushar Mehta told the bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Vishwanathan in the Supreme Court that wherever the demolition action has been done, it has been done by following the legal process. The allegation of targeting a particular community is wrong. In a way, a wrong narrative is being spread.

On this, Justice Gavai said that we are not being affected by this narrative. We have made it clear that we are not in favor of protecting illegal construction. We cannot become executive judges. There is a need to streamline the demolition process. Justice Vishwanathan said that the things happening outside the court do not affect us. We will not go into the debate whether a particular community is being targeted or not. If there is even one issue of illegal demolition, then it is against the spirit of the Constitution.

SC has already expressed objection on bulldozer action
While hearing a case from Gujarat, the Supreme Court had also raised questions on bulldozer justice some time back. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice SVN Bhatti had said that a bulldozer cannot be run on a person’s house merely because he is an accused in a case. It is the court’s job to decide whether the accused is guilty or not, i.e. whether he has committed this crime, not the government’s.

The Supreme Court had said that in this country governed by law, a person’s mistake cannot be punished by taking such action against his family or by demolishing his house. The court cannot ignore such bulldozer action. Allowing such action to happen would be like running a bulldozer on the rule of law itself. Alleged involvement in a crime is not the basis for demolishing a property.

In fact, the Supreme Court gave this order while hearing the petition of a petitioner named Javed Ali from Gujarat. The petitioner said that due to an FIR against a family member, he has been given a notice i.e. a threat from the Municipal Corporation to demolish the house. During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioner told the apex court that three generations of his family had been living in the said houses for nearly two decades.