By CJP Team
On November 6, the Supreme Court of India ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to pay Rs. 25 lakhs in compensation for the illegal demolition of homes to make way for a road-widening project. The order came during the hearing of a suo-motu writ petition filed in 2020, stemming from a complaint by Manoj Tibrewal Aakash, whose house in Maharajganj district was demolished in 2019. The Supreme Court, while rapping the illegal demolition by the UP government, emphatically observed that, “You can’t just roll in with bulldozers and demolish homes overnight.”
The three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the conduct of the authorities, condemning the Uttar Pradesh government’s actions as “high-handed”, according to Live Law.
During the hearing, the court found that no notice was served to the victim and due process was not followed.
Ref. article: Acquiring land without due procedure would be outside the authority of law, Supreme Court lays down 7 Constitutional tests for land acquisition can be read here.
Regarding the failure to serve notice to the victims, CJI Chandrachud further remarked, “This is completely high-handed. Where is the due process? The affidavit shows no notice was issued; instead, you merely informed people at the site through loudspeakers,” as reported by Live Law.
This story was originally published in cjp.org.in. Read the full story here.
