"Demolitions Can't Be Retaliatory": Supreme Court To Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on the demolition of houses of those accused in recent violence in the state and said, "demolitions have to be in accordance with law, they cannot be retaliatory".
The Supreme Court has asked for replies from the state government as well as the civic authorities of Prayagraj and Kanpur before taking up the case again next Tuesday. "Everything should look fair...we expect the authorities to act only in accordance with law. Ensure safety so that nothing untoward happens," said the judges.

But the court did not put demolitions on hold, with the judges saying: "We can't stay demolitions. We can say go in accordance with law."

An organisation called the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind had approached the Supreme Court, asking it to act against officials responsible for what they called the "illegal" demolition of houses.

"If the house has been constructed without following any laws at all then they can't say that they should not even be touched," Mr Mehta argued, adding that the petitions were based on "misconceptions and politics".

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The vacation bench of Justices Bopanna and Vikram Nath took up the case two days after some former judges and senior advocates wrote to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana urging him to take note of the alleged incidents of illegal detention, bulldozing of homes and police action on those protesting against the comments on the Prophet.