New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (March 24) said that it will allow the reconstruction of demolished houses in Uttar Pradesh back in 2021 and slammed the manner in which the demolitions were carried out by the BJP government in the state.
“It shocks the conscience of the court the manner in which within 24 hours of the notice it was done,” said Justice A S Oka, who, along with Justice Ujjal Bhuyan were part of a two-judge bench hearing the matter, reported The Indian Express.
Earlier, the high court had said that the constructions were unauthorised, citing the fact that the lease of the land had expired in 1996 and applications for freehold conversion were rejected in 2015 and 2019.
Justice Oka said that the demolitions were carried out just a day after the notice was served, without giving the residents any chance to appeal.
“The state must act very fairly… must give reasonable time to enable them to file appeal before the structures are demolished,” said Justice Oka.
“Therefore we are going to pass order only in the light of these facts. The manner in which the whole process has been conducted… because court cannot tolerate such process. If we tolerate in one case it will continue,” added Justice Oka.
The court subsequently allowed the reconstruction of the houses.
“The court will pass an order that they can reconstruct at their own cost… and if the appeal fails then they will have to demolish at their own cost,” said the court.
The appellants told the court that the demolition notice issued on March 1, 2021, and was served on them on March 6, 2021, and the demolition was carried out on March 7, 2021, without giving them a reasonable opportunity to challenge it before the appellate authority under Section 27(2) of the UP Urban Planning and Development Act.
