Supreme Court lifts the veil on demolition as extra-judicial punishment https://frontline.thehindu.com/columns/supreme-court-demolition-guidelines-right-to-shelter-due-process-officials-liability-justice-gavai-viswanathan-2024/article68874963.ece Nov 16, 2024 In a people-centric judgment, the court demolishes “coincidence theory” as hollow, mandates due process to protect citizens’ right to shelter.
The Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government and concerned States, submitted that most of the properties demolished were found to be in breach of local municipal or panchayat laws. He suggested that in some cases it might be by a sheer coincidence that the properties in breach of local municipal laws also happened to belong to accused people. He reiterated that it was the stand of the various States that such properties could be demolished only in accordance with procedures prescribed by law.