Supreme Court declares ‘arbitrary’ demolitions illegal – DW – 11/13/2024

India’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the government cannot order the demolition of properties belonging to people accused of crimes without due judicial process.

In its decision, the court stated that such demolitions would “deal with the fundamental principle of the rule of law and will not be allowed.”

Among other rules, the court ruled that the owner must be given notice and an opportunity for a personal hearing with at least 15 days to respond.

The decision emphasized that only the judiciary has the authority to determine crime and that any action that violates the principles of justice and the rule of law is not followed by appropriate legal procedures.

By the way, these demolitions are popularly called “bulldozer justice”.

‘Anti-transgression’ impulses or ‘punishment’?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been accused by rights groups and critics of razing Muslim properties with so-called “anti-encroachment” campaigns.

While authorities say the demolitions target only illegal buildings, rights groups and critics say they are an attempt to harass and marginalize religious minorities, pointing to a rising tide of religious tensions under the Modi administration.

In February, London-based human rights group Amnesty International said in a statement: report Authorities in India’s capital Delhi, along with the BJP-ruled states of Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, have carried out demolitions as a “punishment” following communal clashes or protests against discriminatory government policies, he said.

Selective demolitions without addressing similar illegal structures are considered arbitrary and potentially malicious, indicating criminal intent, the Supreme Court said in its ruling on Tuesday.

The court described this as “the act of punishing the defendant without trial in court.”

‘Bulldozer justice’

Last year, following communal violence in the northern state of Haryana, authorities demolished more than 750 houses and other structures in four days, and the demolitions ended only after the state’s high court ordered a stay.

Most of the shops and makeshift structures, which the BJP government claimed were built illegally, belonged to Muslims.

The ruling nationalist party has always maintained that it was not targeting a specific religious group but merely enforcing the law.

Earlier, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi from the Congress Party had termed such actions as “subversion of India’s constitutional values”.

Speaking to the AFP news agency just before India’s general elections in June, Bhai Khatri, a 64-year-old Muslim voter from Modi’s hometown of Gujarat, said people were not speaking out against the government’s actions out of fear.

“Who will speak? If they speak, they may be arrested by the police or a bulldozer may be sent to their homes.”

Edited by Wesley Rahn