New Delhi [India], March 7 (HBTV): The Supreme Court has strongly criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for demolishing the houses of a lawyer, a professor, and several others in Prayagraj without following due legal procedure. It is said that that state's authorities mistakenly believed the land on which his clients' houses were built belonged to gangster Atiq Ahmed, who was murdered in 2023. 

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and N Kotiswar Singh stated that such actions send a ‘shocking and wrong signal’.

‘After all, there is something known as Article 21 and the Right to Shelter,’ the Court remarked on Wednesday.

The counsel representing the state argued that notices were affixed to the properties in question before the demolitions took place. However, the Court dismissed this reasoning, calling it a ‘hyper-technical’ ground and stating that it knew how to deal with such matters.

The Court termed the state's action as ‘drastic’ and a clear case of high-handed demolition.

The case before the Court was filed by Advocate Zulfiqar Haider, Professor Ali Ahmed, and three others whose houses were demolished by state authorities. They contended that they had received notices only one night before the demolition in March 2021.

Senior Advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari, representing the petitioners, argued that state authorities mistakenly believed the land on which his clients' houses were built belonged to gangster Atiq Ahmed, who was murdered in 2023. He asserted that the authorities should admit their mistake.

The Court questioned the state on why the notices were merely affixed instead of being properly served through a courier, as required by law. It further observed that the demolished structures must be rebuilt.

‘If you want to contest by filing an affidavit, then okay. Otherwise, a less embarrassing way would be to allow them to reconstruct their homes and then serve notices as per the law,’ the Court stated.

Advocate Rohini Dua also represented the petitioners.

(ANI)