Supreme Court: Bulldozer demolitions allowed if legal procedure followed, not for targeted reprisals
The Supreme Court on Tuesday clarified that its 2024 judgment on bulldozer demolitions does not impose a blanket ban on removing illegal constructions and encroachments from public land. The Court stated that bulldozers can be used after strictly following the procedure laid down in municipal laws.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana refused to entertain individual petitions alleging that houses and other structures were demolished in violation of the Court's earlier order. The bench said each case requires a fact-finding exercise to determine whether authorities acted arbitrarily, and that jurisdictional high courts are better suited for this task.
Justice Bagchi observed, 'Bulldozers need to be used when the rule of law is thwarted by a comfortable corruption between municipal authorities and illegal encroachers. But we also need to ensure that under the guise of implementing law, there should not be a categorisation of individuals. It runs against basic tenets of rule of law.'
The Court explained that its 2024 judgment was not a blanket ban on demolitions. It clarified that authorities cannot single out the property of a person merely because they are an accused in a criminal case. 'If everyone in an area has encroached on a footpath, authorities cannot demolish only the encroachment of a family whose member is an accused,' the bench said.
The 2024 judgment laid down an elaborate procedure: issuing a notice detailing illegalities, giving 15 days for the owner to respond, granting a personal hearing, passing a final order, and allowing another 15 days to appeal. However, the judgment exempted encroachments on roads, footpaths, railway lines, and water bodies, as well as demolitions ordered by a court.
The Supreme Court transferred all pending petitions alleging violations of its order to respective high courts. It said high courts may take assistance from district judicial officers to ascertain facts before deciding the cases.
