Supreme Court Slams Uttar Pradesh Authorities for Illegal Demolition of Houses in Road Widening Project
On Wednesday, November 6, the Supreme Court harshly criticized Uttar Pradesh authorities for illegally demolishing residential houses as part of a road-widening project. The case arose from a suo motu writ petition filed in 2020 after a complaint by Manoj Tibrewal Aakash, whose home in Maharajganj was demolished in 2019.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra condemned the authorities’ actions, labeling them as “high-handed.” CJI Chandrachud questioned the State’s rationale, which claimed the petitioner had encroached on public land.”How can you arbitrarily demolish people’s homes like that? This is a complete disregard for the law… entering someone’s house and tearing it down without prior notice is unacceptable,” he stated.
The Court expressed alarm over the lack of formal notice, revealing that residents were only informed through public announcements on loudspeakers. Highlighting the severity of the situation, Justice Pardiwala stated, “You can’t come with bulldozers and demolish houses overnight… What about the household articles? There has to be due process followed.”
The bench found that 123 other homes had been similarly demolished without proper legal procedures. It criticized the authorities for relying solely on public announcements for notice, equating the approach to the archaic “beat of the drum.”
A report from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) revealed that the alleged encroachment in the petitioner’s case amounted to just 3.7 square meters—an insignificant reason to justify the demolition of entire homes. The Court observed that there was no proper inquiry into the extent of the encroachments, nor any evidence that the land had been acquired before the demolitions. It further questioned why demolitions extended beyond the identified encroachments.
In its ruling, the Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to pay interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the petitioner. It also ordered an investigation into the actions of the officers and contractors involved in the demolitions. The Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh was instructed to initiate disciplinary action, with criminal proceedings to be considered where appropriate. Additionally, the Court emphasized that legal procedures must be strictly followed before removing encroachments for road-widening projects.
The judgment was deemed significant enough to be circulated to all States and Union Territories as a directive for handling similar situations in the future.
The case, titled *IN RE MANOJ TIBREWAL AKASH W.P.(C) No. 1294/2020*, underscores the importance of adhering to due process and respecting citizens’ rights, even in government infrastructure projects.
