The Supreme Court on Tuesday has announced that it will establish guidelines regarding property demolition applicable to all citizens, reserving its verdict on pleas that allege the demolition of properties belonging to individuals accused of crimes in several states.
The court clarified that merely being an accused or a convict cannot justify the demolition of properties.
“Whatever we are laying down, we are a secular country. We are laying it down for all the citizens, for all the institutions, not for any particular community,” stated Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan.
The bench emphasized that there cannot be different laws based on religion and confirmed that it would not protect unauthorized constructions on public roads, government land, or forests. “We will take care to ensure that our order does not help the encroachers on any of the public places,” they added.
As the hearing concluded, the bench stated, “Close for orders.” When reserving its verdict, an advocate for the petitioners referenced a previous order from September 17, which prohibited any property demolitions, including those of accused individuals, until October 1 without the court’s permission.
The bench responded that the interim order remains in effect until a decision is made.
Earlier, the court noted that even one instance of illegal demolition contradicts the “ethos” of the Constitution. It clarified that its order does not apply to unauthorized structures on public properties, such as roads, streets, footpaths, railway lines, or water bodies, nor to cases where a court has issued a demolition order.
