New Delhi: In a scathing judgement on April 1, the Supreme Court directed the Prayagraj Development Authority in Uttar Pradesh to pay Rs. 10 lakh to six people whose houses were illegally demolished.
The judgement comes at a time when the Uttar Pradesh government under chief minister Adityanath has been defending ‘bulldozer justice’ – the authorities’ stance of demolishing the property of usually Muslim people accused of crimes.
The Wire had earlier reported on how one of the demolished houses belonged to a retired Urdu professor Ali Ahmed Fatmi. The harsh action hurt Fatmi financially and socially destabilised him, the report had said. “I cannot even bear to look at it,” he had told The Wire.
Prayagraj administration also demolished his daughter Naila Fatmi’s house as well as adjoining properties of lawyer Zulfiquar Haider and two others.
LiveLaw has reported on how the bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that the demolition was carried out in violation of due process.
Here are some notable things that the Supreme Court bench said.
Article 21
Article 21 of the constitution protects the right to life and personal liberty. It ensures certain safeguards against arbitrary deprivation of life and liberty.
“The authorities and especially the development authority must remember that the right to shelter is also an integral part of Article 21 of the Constitution of India…Considering the illegal action of the demolition which is in violation of rights of the appellants under Article 21 of the Constitution, we direct the Prayagraj Development Authority to pay compensation of 10 lakhs each to the appellants.”
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
