‘Shocking, wrong signal’: SC criticises UP government for demolishing homes of lawyer, professor

The Supreme Court on Wednesday criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for demolishing the homes of a lawyer, a professor and three others in Prayagraj in 2021, saying that such actions send a “shocking and wrong signal”, Live Law reported.

“There is something called as Article 21,” the bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and N Kotiswar Singh said, referring to the provision in the Constitution that guarantees the right to life and personal liberty.

“Prima facie, this action sends shocking and wrong signal and this is something that needs to be corrected,” PTI quoted the bench as saying. “You are taking such drastic action of demolishing homes...We know how to deal with such hyper technical arguments.”

The bench pointed to its November order that laid down the procedure to be followed before such demolitions.

Oka remarked that the court would order the state to reconstruct the demolished structures. “That is the only way to do this,” he added.

There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for demolishing property as a punitive measure. Nevertheless, the practice has become commonplace, mainly in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In its November 13 order, the Supreme Court held that state authorities cannot demolish the properties of citizens merely because they are accused or convicted of crimes. The court, hearing a batch of...

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