TOP COURT CLAMPS DOWN ON BULLDOZER DEMOLITIONS

Order not applicable to unauthorised structures in public places

Equating 'bulldozer justice' with a lawless state of affairs where might is right, the Supreme Court on Wednesday laid down pan-India guidelines and said no property should be demolished without a prior show cause notice and the affected must be given 15 days to respond.

The executive cannot assume judicial powers to punish citizens by demolishing their properties without following due process, the apex court said while terming such excesses "high-handed and arbitrary" and ruling that they need to be dealt with the "heavy hand of the law".

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan described as "chilling" the sight of a bulldozer demolishing a building, rendering women, children and aged persons homeless overnight.

"If the executive acts as a judge and inflicts penalty of demolition on a citizen on the ground that he is an accused, it violates the principle of 'separation of powers'," the bench said in its 95-page judgment.

"The chilling sight of a bulldozer demolishing a building, when authorities have failed to follow the basic principles of natural justice and have acted without adhering to the principle of due process, reminds one of a lawless state of affairs, where 'might was right'," it said.

The bench said such high-handed and arbitrary actions have no place in the Constitution, which rests on the foundation of the rule of law.