Allahabad HC delivers split verdict on two-year freeze on bulldozing homes of accused persons
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A division bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday delivered a split verdict on whether additional measures are needed to stop punitive demolitions of properties belonging to persons accused of crimes.
Justice Atul Sreedharan favoured a two-year bar on such demolitions after a first information report is filed. However, Justice Siddharth Nandan disagreed with the suggestion, due to which the matter was referred to the chief justice for a decision by a third judge.
There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for the demolition of property as a punitive measure. However, the practice has become commonplace in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.
In November 2024, the Supreme Court held as illegal the practice of demolishing properties of persons accused of crimes as a punitive measure. It said that processes must be followed before removing allegedly illegal encroachments.
However, the Allahabad High Court had in February remarked that demolitions continued to be used as punishment despite the Supreme Court order.
On Monday, Sreedharan and Nandan agreed that the arbitrary bulldozing of homes violates the rule of law and said that demolitions must comply with due process.
Sreedharan held that “rushing to demolish the dwelling place of a person accused of an offence” under the garb of municipal violations is impermissible and amounts to “a retributive exercise of executive discretion”.
“The Constitution also stands by the...