Will Supreme Court's interim order be sufficient to stay ‘bulldozer justice’?
The court’s order staying demolitions makes an exception for encroachments on government land, which is the pretext used for several such demolitions.
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The Supreme Court’s interim order on Tuesday staying demolitions across the country without its permission till October 1 does not apply to unauthorised constructions on public roads, footpaths, railway lines or public places. While the order might stay a large number of demolitions, this exception has led to apprehensions that the order may not prevent punitive demolitions being carried out on the pretext of clearing encroachments on public property.
The Supreme Court bench of Justices BR Gavai and SR Viswanathan said that the “order would not be applicable if there is an unauthorised structure in any public place such as road, street, footpath, abutting railway line or any river body or water bodies and also to cases where there is an order for demolition made by a court of law”.
The authorities in four Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states and one Aam Aadmi Party-governed state have punitively bulldozed 128 structures, mostly belonging to Muslims, between April and June 2022, human rights group Amnesty Internation said in a report in February. There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for property to be demolished as a punitive action.
Tuesday’s Supreme Court order has been largely welcomed by opposition parties and civil society. Lawyers involved in the case said that the order will put a temporary stop to most...
