'Can't come home with bulldozer, demolish house overnight': SC raps Yogi govt on demolition

The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for the illegal demolition of houses for the purpose of road widening. The bench was hearing a plea wherein the petitioner alleged that the demolition came as reprisal to a report he published on the wrongdoings of the UP authorities. 

The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra flagged that a notice was not served beforehand and the due process was not followed, LiveLaw reported. 

Terming the action by the state as "high handed" and without the authority of the law, the top court said: "You can't come with bulldozer and demolish house overnight. You don't give time to family to vacate. What about the household articles? There has to be due process followed"

Not only this, the state also failed to disclose the exact extent of the encroachment, the width of the existing road, the width of the notified highway, the extent of the property of the petitioner which fell within the notified width of the central line of the highway, as per the court. 

The top court also questioned why the demolition was carried out beyond the alleged encroachment. 

Besides this, the Supreme Court also directed the state government to pay Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the petitioner whose house was demolished. The court also directed the Chief Secretary to conduct disciplinary enquiry against officers responsible for the illegal demolitions. 

The directions have to be complied within one month, the top court noted.

While decrying the UP government's approach, the Supreme Court clarified that the state is well within its right to initiate criminal action against people responsible for the illegal actions.

The petitioner mentioned that 123 other constructions were demolished and people were informed through public announcements. Replying to this, CJI Chandrachud said that the authorities went to the site and informed the people of the demolition through a loudspeaker.

"You can't just with a beat of drum tell people to vacate houses and demolish them. There has to be proper notice," Justice Pardiwala said during the hearing. The court further mentioned that no enquiry was conducted to demarcate the encroached areas.

The bench furthermore mentioned there was no material to show the land was acquired before the demolitions. The top court also laid down the steps that the state authorities must follow before removing encroachments for road widening projects.