“Reconstruction at your cost”: SC to UP govt for wrongful demolition of homes

The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, 5 March, criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for demolishing the homes of a lawyer, a professor and three others in Prayagraj without following the proper legal procedures.

A bench consisting of justices Abhay S. Oka and N. Kotishwar Singh strongly disapproved of the demolitions, calling the actions “shocking” and “wrong”.

Justice Oka remarked, “Prima facie, this sends a shocking and wrong signal, and this is something that needs to be corrected.”

When the counsel for the state argued that there was a legitimate ground for attaching notices to the properties of those affected, the bench responded dismissively, stating, “We know how to deal with such hyper-technical arguments.”

Justice Oka further emphasised the significance of constitutional rights, stating, "After all, there is something known as Article 21 and the right to shelter!”

The bench also referred to a recent judgement by a coordinate bench regarding demolitions, which sets out the procedure that should be followed before such actions take place.

Justice Oka expressed particular concern over the manner in which the demolition was carried out and indicated that the Court would likely order the reconstruction of the demolished properties at the state's expense.

“Now we will order reconstruction at your cost, that is the only way to do this,” he said

The petitioners, including advocate Zulfiqar Haider, professor Ali Ahmed, two widows and another individual, had approached the Supreme Court after their plea was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court.

Senior advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari, representing the petitioners, argued that the state had mistakenly identified their land as property belonging to gangster–politician Atiq Ahmed, who was killed in 2023. "They mistook our land for his," Bhandari said, urging the state to admit its mistake.

Attorney general R. Venkataramani argued that the petitioners had been given sufficient time to respond to the demolition notice.

However, Justice Oka disagreed, questioning the manner in which the notice was affixed and highlighting the inconsistency of the state's claims regarding the delivery of the notice.

“Why was the notice affixed like this? Why not send it by courier?” Justice Oka remarked. “This is a high-handed case of demolition, that's all.”

Justice Oka also questioned the attorney general’s suggestion to remand the case to the High Court, dismissing it as a tactic to delay proceedings further. “Not at all. No going to High Court again. That would only delay the matter,” he said.

The petitioners contended that the demolition notice had been issued late on a Saturday night and executed the following day, preventing them from challenging the action.

They also argued that they were lawful lessees of the land and had applied for the conversion of their leasehold rights into freehold property.

The demolition notice, dated 1 March 2021, was served on 6 March 2021 and the demolition occurred on 7 March 2021, without providing the petitioners a reasonable opportunity to appeal under Section 27(2) of the UP Urban Planning and Development Act.

The petitioners include a lawyer and a professor, whose entire library was destroyed in the demolition.

The Allahabad High Court had dismissed the petitioners' plea based on a letter dated 15 September 2020, without allowing them an opportunity to contest the matter.

The High Court noted that the demolition concerned a Nazul plot in Prayagraj, leased in 1906, with the lease expiring in 1996. Applications for the conversion of the leasehold to freehold had been rejected in 2015 and 2019.

The state contended that the land was designated for public use and that the petitioners had no legal rights since their transactions lacked the necessary approval from the district collector.

The matter will be heard further on 21 March 2025.