{"id":43394,"date":"2024-11-10T05:39:50","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T00:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=43394"},"modified":"2025-05-06T02:14:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T20:44:01","slug":"supreme-courts-landmark-guidelines-to-prevent-bulldozer-justice-by-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/supreme-courts-landmark-guidelines-to-prevent-bulldozer-justice-by-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court\u2019s Landmark Guidelines to Prevent Bulldozer Justice by State"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>What is Bulldozer Justice?<\/li>\n<li>Case Background<\/li>\n<li>Key Highlights of the Ruling<\/li>\n<li>Wider Impact of the Ruling<\/li>\n<li>Implications of the Ruling<\/li>\n<li>Conclusion<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court has established the first-ever guidelines to counter arbitrary demolitions, aiming to protect citizens from unjust actions by state authorities.<\/li>\n<li>This ruling emphasises that demolitions without due process violate the rule of law and highlights the <strong>misuse of \u201cbulldozer justice\u201d in a civilised society<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>What is Bulldozer Justice?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It refers to the<strong> instant justice mechanism<\/strong> that is propagated by the government of various states to punish the alleged rioters and protestors by <strong>razing down their houses, stalls or any construction with the use of JCB.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Case Background:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Tibrewal Akash incident:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The guidelines stemmed from a 2019 case in which journalist Manoj Tibrewal Akash\u2019s ancestral property was demolished in Uttar Pradesh.<\/li>\n<li>Authorities cited expansion of a National Highway as the reason, but the court found multiple violations.<\/li>\n<li>No written notice was served, and the demolition exceeded the alleged encroachment area.<\/li>\n<li>The petitioner claimed the demolition was retaliatory, triggered by his father\u2019s demand for an investigation into irregularities in a road project.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>NHRC findings:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) found the demolition unjustified, as authorities overstepped the encroachment area.<\/li>\n<li>Only 3.70 metres of land allegedly encroached, yet authorities demolished between 5-8 metres.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Key Highlights of the Ruling:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Need for safeguards against arbitrary demolitions:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>A bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) underscored that arbitrary demolitions <strong>threaten the constitutional right to property<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>To ensure fair treatment, the court mandated that <strong>all demolitions must be preceded by specific legal steps<\/strong>, adding accountability for public officials involved in unlawful demolitions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mandatory steps before demolition:<\/strong> The SC outlined six essential procedures that must be followed before any property can be demolished:\n<ul>\n<li>Verification of existing land records and maps.<\/li>\n<li>Proper surveys to identify encroachments.<\/li>\n<li>Issuance of written notices to encroachers.<\/li>\n<li>Consideration of objections with formal orders.<\/li>\n<li>Reasonable time allowance for voluntary removal.<\/li>\n<li>Legal acquisition of additional land, if necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Wider Impact of the Ruling:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Disciplinary and criminal action:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The court ordered disciplinary action and criminal charges against officials who approved or executed demolitions without adherence to legal protocols.<\/li>\n<li>This applies to any state action where demolitions are used selectively as punishment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The UP chief secretary<\/strong> was instructed to conclude <strong>disciplinary actions within four months<\/strong> and to investigate arbitrary demolitions thoroughly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Compensation for damages: <\/strong>The SC directed <strong>interim compensation of \u20b925 lakh<\/strong> to the petitioner and ordered a review of similar cases in the area.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Implications of the Ruling:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Addresses rising concerns:<\/strong> Over the use of bulldozers to target minorities, protesters, and critics of governments.\n<ul>\n<li>The court clarified that while illegal encroachments must be dealt with, <strong>demolitions must strictly adhere to legal standards<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nationwide implementation:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The court directed that all states and UTs implement these guidelines.<\/li>\n<li>Copies of the judgement were sent to chief secretaries across the country to ensure these procedures are enforced uniformly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The SC\u2019s guidelines serve as <strong>a critical reminder of the rule of law<\/strong>, mandating that demolitions cannot be used as a tool for intimidation or selective punishment.<\/li>\n<li>This landmark decision <strong>enforces public accountability and reaffirms citizens\u2019 rights to property under Article 300A of the Constitution <\/strong>while establishing a fair and transparent approach to handling encroachments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"media\">\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XO7KbIJmD1w\">\n<div><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XO7KbIJmD1w\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q.1. What is Article 300A of the Constitution of India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Article 300A provides that no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law. The State cannot dispossess a citizen of his property except in accordance with the procedure established by law.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q.2. What is the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>NHRC is a statutory body that was established in 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act, with the mission of promoting and protecting human rights in India.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/supreme-court-home-ultimate-security-bulldozer-justice-unknown-to-civilised-system-9662049\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Supreme Court: Home ultimate security, bulldozer justice unknown to civilised system<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/sc-issues-guidelines-against-bulldozer-justice-demolition-101731179617123.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>HT<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court has established the first-ever guidelines to counter arbitrary demolitions, aiming to protect citizens from unjust actions by state authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":43395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}