SC seeks civic body response to contempt plea over bulldozer action in Maharashtra

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the municipal authorities in Maharashtra’s Malvan to a contempt petition filed by a man whose rented scrap shop and home, made of tin sheets, were bulldozed in February after his son was accused of shouting “anti-India slogans”, reported The Indian Express.

The boy had allegedly shouted the slogans on February 23 after the Indian cricket team defeated Pakistan in a Champions Trophy match. On February 24, the municipal council demolished the family’s shop and home, claiming the structure to be unauthorised. In the process, they also damaged a vehicle owned by the family.

There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for the demolition of property as a punitive measure, but the practice has become commonplace in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

On November 13, the Supreme Court held the practice of demolishing properties of persons accused of crimes to be illegal. It said that due process must be followed before removing allegedly illegal encroachments.

In his petition, the boy’s father, Kitabulla Hamidulla Khan, argued that the demolition was carried out under “political pressure” without prior notice and violated the Supreme Court’s November order, according to The Indian Express.

The action amounted to “egregious contempt” of the top court’s directives, he said.

“The action of the civic authorities is arbitrary, illegal and malafide,” the newspaper quoted the petition as...

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