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‘Brutal clampdown’: Jamiat plea against UP demolitions to be heard by SC tomorrow
The request, filed this week by Jamiat, asked the Supreme Court to order the Yogi Adityanath government in UP to halt the demolitions being carried out without following due procedure
The Supreme Court will hear on Thursday a plea filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind to stop the Uttar Pradesh government from carrying out further demolition of properties of those accused in violent protests following derogatory remarks made against Prophet Mohammed by two former spokespersons of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Jamiat moved two applications early this week, arguing that the action carried out by the police and state authorities was in complete disregard of the principles of natural justice and in violation of municipal laws that require advance notice and opportunity of hearing to persons whose properties are sought to be demolished.
A bench of justices AS Bopanna and Vikram Nath will hear the two applications in which the Muslim body has sought a court order to stop the ongoing demolitions in several districts of UP. The Jamiat has also asked the court to initiate action against officials responsible for the houses already demolished in violation of the rule of law and municipal laws.
The Jamiat application highlighted the alleged high-handedness of authorities in carrying out the demolition of properties of persons arrested for their alleged involvement in protests at a time when the issue of adoption of such extra-legal measures is under challenge before the Supreme Court in a petition filed by Jamiat and several other individuals over similar demolitions being carried out in northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri.
In April this year, the top court directed status quo on the demolitions carried out by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation.
The decision to list the case comes after a group of former Supreme Court and high court judges along with senior lawyers across the country addressed a letter petition to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana requesting suo moto action on the ongoing demolition of properties of those arrested for stone-pelting and acts of violence during the protests in Uttar Pradesh.
“Such a brutal clampdown by a ruling administration is an unacceptable subversion of the rule of law and a violation of the rights of citizens, and makes a mockery of the Constitution and fundamental rights guaranteed by the State,” said the letter signed by three former Supreme Court judges — justices B Sudershan Reddy, V Gopala Gowda and AK Ganguly along with former Delhi high court chief justice AP Shah, two former high court judges — justices K Chandru (Madras) and Mohammad Anwar (Karnataka) and six senior lawyers.
Moving the application in its pending petition on Jahangirpuri, Jamiat said, “In complete disregard of the principles of natural justice as also the municipal laws pertaining to the demolition of properties, several properties were demolished without giving an adequate opportunity of hearing to the affected persons/families.”
Urging the court to order that no “precipitative action” be taken by the UP government, the application said, “Adoption of such extra-legal measures is clearly in violation of the principles of natural justice, especially when this court is hearing the present matter (relating to Jahangirpuri demolitions).”
As per Section 10 of the Uttar Pradesh (Regulation of Building Operations) Act, 1958, demolition of a building shall not be undertaken unless the affected person is given a reasonable opportunity of being heard, the Jamiat plea said.
Further, it quoted Section 27 of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973 which requires 15 days’ notice and the affected person to be heard before proceeding with the demolition.
“Even as per the laws enacted by the legislative assembly of Uttar Pradesh, the affected persons are entitled to a reasonable opportunity of hearing before any such demolition is carried out. Hence, the demolition of properties carried out by the state government in retaliation was in breach of the laws enacted by the state legislature itself,” the plea by Jamiat said.
Countrywide protests erupted over the last week after derogatory references to Prophet Mohammed by now-suspended BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal. Following their remarks, which also evoked major diplomatic outrage, Sharma was suspended while Jindal was expelled by the BJP which distanced itself from their views.
Jamiat said the remarks by the two BJP functionaries were “offensive” and “objectionable” and said a protest over the remarks at Kanpur turned violent with a scuffle reported between members of the Hindu and Muslim communities and incidents of stone-pelting.
Soon after the violence, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath told the media that the houses of accused persons would be razed using bulldozers, the Jamiat request sad. This was followed by statements given by additional director general (law and order) Prashant Kumar and Kanpur commissioner of police Vijay Singh Meena, who reiterated the proposed action.
The demolition action was carried out on June 11 and 12 in several districts including Kanpur, Prayagraj and Saharanpur. After the chief minister ordered authorities on June 12 to continue the demolitions across the state, the Jamiat decided to approach the court.
