No public interest in this, says HC on PIL against demolishing suspects’ houses in Madhya Pradesh

The Madhya Pradesh high court was hearing a petition filed by a lawyer who argued that the demolition of structures linked to accused or suspects in criminal cases was violative of constitutional guarantees

BHOPAL/JABALPUR: The Madhya Pradesh high court on Wednesday rejected a public interest litigation filed by a lawyer against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government’s demolition drive against those accused of riots, mafias and criminals, ruling that the people who were affected by the action had the legal right to approach the court.

The Madhya Pradesh high court ruled that individuals who were affected by the demolition can seek remedy but a lawyer, who had no connection with them, could not raise the issue as a public interest litigation

“On considering the contentions and the pleadings, we are of the considered view that it may not be appropriate to entertain this petition as a public interest litigation. Even if the case of the petitioner is to be accepted that certain houses of certain persons have been demolished, necessarily those persons have a legal right to defend themselves and their properties in a manner known to the law,” the bench of chief justice Ravi Vijay Kumar and justice PK Kaurav said

In his petition, lawyer Amitabha Gupta said he wanted to draw the court’s attention to the new practice of the state police to demolish houses and other construction belonging to suspects without observing due process of law. Last week after communal clashes in Khargone district, the district administration demolished 52 houses and shops.

The court, however, said it didn’t see any “nexus” between the petitioner and the persons whose properties have been demolished. “Therefore, it is for those (affected) persons to appropriately move the court for necessary order as they deem fit. We do not find any reason to entertain this petition on behalf of the present petitioner. Accordingly, the petition is dismissed,” the bench said.

According to the Madhya Pradesh home department data, a total of 21,502 acres of government and private land has been cleared by the district and police administration from illegal encroachment and possession of land mafia, goons and habitual criminals in the past two years. Over the last two years, 12,640 illegal structures (houses, shops, godowns, marriage gardens, illegal factories.) of the land mafia, goons, and habitual criminals have been demolished or removed. The land freed as part of this action is valued at Rs.18,146 crore.