The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the Uttar
Pradesh government over demolition of houses in Prayagraj without following
proper legal procedure and said the action sends a "shocking and wrong
signal".
A bench of Justices Abhay Oka and N Kotishwar Singh
took exception to "high-handed" case of demolition and said the
demolished structures will have to be reconstructed.
"Prima facie, this action sends shocking and
wrong signal and this is something that needs to be corrected. You are taking
such drastic action of demolishing homes... We know how to deal with such hyper
technical arguments. After all there is something known as Article 21 and Right
to Shelter," the bench said.
Attorney General R Venkataramani defended the action
of the state government saying that reasonable time was given to the
petitioners to respond to the demolition notice.
He said the matter should be sent to the high court
for consideration.
The counsel appearing for the petitioners stated
that the state government wrongly demolished the houses thinking that land
belonged to gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, who was killed in 2023 in a police
encounter.
The top court was hearing a plea by advocate Zulfiqar
Haider, professor Ali Ahmed and others whose houses were demolished.
The Allahabad High Court had rejected their plea
challenging the demolition.
The petitioners alleged to have been served notice
on March 6, 2021 in respect of certain constructions standing over a portion of
Nazul Plot No. 19, Lukerganj, police station Khuldabad in Prayagraj district.
The petitioners submitted that notices were given to
them on Saturday night and demolition took place on Sunday in March 2021.