NEW DELHI: Supreme Court said Tuesday that it will soon frame guidelines on bulldozer action which will apply across the country and to all communities. It added that under these rules, there would be no restriction on govt authorities taking action against encroachers of public land, which can be done without prior notice.
Even states of UP, MP, and Rajasthan, which have been accused of using bulldozers against alleged offenders, agreed that involvement in crime could not be a ground to take action.
At the outset of the hearing, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the three states, told the bench that involvement in a crime could not be the basis for bulldozer action and any demolition must be done as per municipal laws. He also said the practice of demolition notice being pasted on the house should be done away with and the notice should be delivered by registered post. But he said that if any restriction was put in place by the court, then it would be misused by real estate builders and violators and urged that the bench should consider that aspect also. He also said demolition drives were not confined to any particular community as was being projected.
“We are a secular country. There cannot be different laws for different communities,” the court added. The court said it would ensure that its order did not benefit encroachers and would not come in the way of authorities taking action against them. It said even religious structures built by encroaching upon public roads must be removed.
Senior advocates C U Singh, M R Shamshad, Sanjay Hegde and Abhishek Manu Singhvi said municipal laws should not be allowed to be weaponised for law and order problems or to control crime. Agreeing with their plea, the bench said, “We will clarify that demolition can’t be carried out merely because someone is an accused or convict.”
The court said the authority concerned would have to justify that demolition was the only remedy and added that a narrow window should be given to aggrieved persons to raise grievances before the appropriate forum.
As the bench pointed out that about 4.45 lakh cases of demolition were reported in the country every year, the SG said the incidents brought to courts’ notice (bulldozer justice) were less than 2% of that number.