India’s top court calls demolition of private properties 'unconstitutional'

“If a citizen’s house is demolished merely because he is an accused or even for that matter a convict, that too without following the due process as prescribed by law, in our considered view, it will be totally unconstitutional for more than one reason,” the court said in its judgment.

Noting that “executive cannot become a judge,” the judges observed: “The chilling sight of a bulldozer demolishing a building… when authorities acted without adhering to the principle of due process, reminds one of a lawless state of affairs.”

The court also issued several directions for the states that no demolition should be carried out without a prior show cause notice. The court said: “Violation of any of the directions would lead to initiation of contempt proceedings in addition to the prosecution.”

The order comes as the court was hearing a case in which petitioners pleaded that authorities were carrying out demolitions of properties without following due procedure.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, which had filed a petition in the top court in the public interest, recently said demolition of Muslim properties occurred again in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan states, bringing the issue into the spotlight.

The top court had issued a notice in 2022 to the central government and provincial states, seeking responses regarding demolitions.

While there is no countrywide official data available publicly, Housing and Land Rights Network, a New Delhi-based independent organization, earlier this year said from January 2022 to December 2023, over 150,000 houses were demolished by authorities in India.

The report said it resulted in the forceful eviction of over 0.74 million people from their homes.

The bulldozers have become synonymous with the oppression of Muslims, according to the rights body, which says: "Demolitions carried out without any due process have left many Muslims homeless or deprived of their livelihoods."

Amnesty International says India’s "widespread unlawful demolitions of Muslims’ homes, businesses and places of worship through the use of bulldozers and other machines must stop immediately.”