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Informist, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Wednesday came down heavily on authorities in Uttar Pradesh for their "high-handed" action of demolishing houses, purportedly for a road-widening project, in Maharajganj district, without sufficient notice. The order came in a case filed in 2020.

 

Terming the action "without the authority of law", the court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to pay a punitive compensation of INR 2.5 million to Manoj Tibrewal Aakash, whose house was demolished without notice being served on him.

 

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud directed the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh to conduct an enquiry against all officials, including contractors, responsible for the action and take disciplinary action against any official who illegally demolished not just the petitioner's house but that of anybody else in the area. Further, the court said the state was at liberty to also initiate criminal proceedings against the persons responsible for the illegal actions.

 

"You say that he was an encroacher of 3.7 square metres, we take it, we are not giving him a certificate for it, but how can you start demolishing people's houses like that? This is lawlessness," the chief justice said. "This is completely high-handed. Where is due process followed? We have an affidavit that says no notice was issued, you only went to the site and informed the people."

 

 

Justice J.B. Pariwala remarked, "You can't come with bulldozers and demolish houses overnight. You don't give time to the family to vacate. What about the household articles? There has to be due process followed."

 

The court was hearing a suo moto case registered on the basis of a letter sent by Aakash, who complained about the demolition of his ancestral house and a shop located in Hamid Nagar, Maharajganj district. The court was told that 123 other structures were also demolished and people were just informed about the impending action through public announcements. "You can't just with a beat of drums tell people to vacate houses and demolish them. There has to be proper notice," the court said.

 

In 2012, the road near the petitioner's house was notified as a state highway. Thereafter, a final detailed project report for widening the road was prepared with an applicable right of way with chainage of 30 metres. Several persons were identified as encroaching upon the land meant for the state highway. Consequently, a drumbeat announcement was made in 2019 regarding the encroachments.

 

After his house was demolished, the petitioner moved the National Human Rights Commission. The rights body said no notice was given prior to the demolition, except for a public announcement through loudspeakers. The commission said the extent of encroachment was about 3.7 square metres and demolition of that length was justified for widening that road. However, the house was demolished beyond 3.7 square metres and the actual demolition was 5-8 square metres.

 

On Wednesday, the top court said Uttar Pradesh had produced no documents to indicate the original width of the highway, no paper to prove that any enquiry was done to earmark the encroachments, and no material to show that the land was acquired for the project. It said that before any road widening, states should take steps, including ascertainment of the road's existing width, survey to ascertain encroachments, and issuance of notice to encroachers. Objections must be addressed through a speaking order in compliance with the rules of natural justice, the court said.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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