Supreme Court Rejects Contempt Petition Related to Demolition Actions

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed a contempt petition against senior officials of the Uttar Pradesh government, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan concerning the demolition of immovable properties.

A bench consisting of Justices B.R. Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra, and K.V. Viswanathan stated that it was not inclined to consider the petition, mentioning, “We do not want to open a Pandora’s box.”

Advocate M. Nizam Pasha, representing the National Federation of Indian Women, claimed there were three instances where demolitions occurred without prior court approval.

K.M. Nataraj, the Additional Solicitor General representing the state governments, argued that the demolitions were carried out on sidewalks and contended that the petition was filed by a third party based on news reports.

The Supreme Court indicated that it would listen to the grievances of individuals affected by the demolitions. In response, the petitioner’s lawyer noted that journalists bringing such facts to light also faced consequences, to which the bench stated that journalists should approach the court.

The petition alleged that authorities in Haridwar, Jaipur, and Kanpur had violated the Supreme Court’s orders by demolishing immovable properties. The Supreme Court had previously ordered that no property belonging to an accused should be demolished without their consent.

On October 1, the court extended its order from September 17, which prohibited the government from using bulldozers to demolish the property of any accused in criminal cases without the court’s permission. However, the court excluded actions related to encroachments on public roads, sidewalks, railway lines, or water bodies from this order.