Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the Supreme Court today expressed concern over a viral video showing a young girl outside a demolished house.
“There is a viral video where a small girl can be seen outside a demolished house. Everyone is very disturbed by such visuals,” he remarked.
The judge said this during the hearing of the case in which the court directed the Prayagraj Development Authority to pay Rs. 10 lakh each in compensation to six individuals whose homes were illegally demolished, observing that their right to shelter under Article 21 was violated.
The video, which surfaced last week on X, shows a girl child clutching books and running away from a shanty during a demolition. As per PTI, the video is from an anti-encroachment drive in Jalalpur, Ambedkar Nagar.
According to PTI, the Ambedkar Nagar Police has stated that the demolition was carried out to remove encroachments from village land based on an ejection order of the Jalalpur tehsildar court.
The police said that multiple notices were issued before clearing non-residential structures and that the action was in compliance with the revenue court’s directive to reclaim government land, PTI reported.
Justice Bhuyan said this after the Court passed the order granting compensation to the six appellants whose houses were illegally demolished. The bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, called the action “inhumane and illegal.”
The Court observed that the demolition notices were not served as per due process of law, with authorities merely affixing them on the concerned structures instead of making efforts to serve notices in person. Further, the demolition was carried out a day after the notice was served on the appellants via registered post.
The Court found that this denied the affected individuals a fair opportunity to challenge the demolition under Section 27 of the U.P. Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973.
The Supreme Court clarified that it had not commented on the appellants’ rights over the land and stated that they could initiate appropriate proceedings to establish their title and interest. The Prayagraj Development Authority was directed to adhere to the guidelines set in In Re Directions In The Matter Of Demolition Of Structures for serving notices and carrying out demolitions.
Case no. – Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No. 6466/2021
Case Title – Zulfiquar Haider & Anr. v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors.
