New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that the demolition of property by the Uttar Pradesh Government is not "in accordance with the law," thereby seeking an affidavit in three days on the demolitions carried out using bulldozers in Jahangirpuri recently. The court was hearing a petition alleging that the government was targeting a particular community and bulldozing the properties of its residents without giving required prior notice to them.
The Jamiat-Ulama-I-Hind had filed the plea thereby demanding an assurance by the UP government of no such demolitions being executed in the future without following the standard legal procedure. The UP govt, on the other hand, had argued that it had broken no laws during the demolition drives, while also claiming that it had issued the due notices to the concerned parties before running the bulldozers.
Moreover, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the demolitions were not carried out after identifying the religion of the residents. Further arguing that the 'petitioners can't expect their properties to even be touched despite being illegally constructed', Mehta alleged that the petitions are based on 'misconceptions and politics'.
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Meanwhile, the SC, clarifying that it is not ordering a complete stay on the demolition, highlighted that 'such actions, however, need to be in the ambit of the law.' "The UP government will be given time to file its objections. But in the meantime, we need to ensure the safety of the petitioners. Such demolitions should be carried out with lawful provisions," the SC bench comprising Justices Bopanna and Vikram Nath observed. The matter was thereby scheduled to be heard on June 21 next.
The case was taken up for hearing after some former judges and senior advocates wrote to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana to look into the matters pertaining to the Jehangirpuri violence as well as the recent row over Prophet Muhammad.
