Bulldozer Justice And How It Is Violating People’s Rights
Author: LawSphereX
Category: General Law
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BULLDOZER JUSTICE AND HOW IT IS VIOLATING
PEOPLE’S RIGHTS?
Apnatva & Kunal, ILS Law College, Pune
ABSTRACT
The term ‘bulldozer Justice’ became popular in the year 2017 when people’s houses were getting demolished because they were accused of any crime that was communal and sometimes illegal constructions were also razed. From the state of Uttar Pradesh, the bulldozer demolition became started in Madhya Pradesh and Delhi as well. But demolishing someone’s house cannot be a way to penalize them this process is an extrajudicial and unconstitutional overreach of power by the Executive. The act of bulldozer not only violates the right of an individual who is allegedly accused of any crime but of all the innocent persons who reside with them. Sometimes the process of bulldozer demolition continues despite judicial orders to stop such barbaric acts.
So, to prevent those acts permanently the Judiciary in a recent judgment had formulated certain guidelines on the Pan-India level and also instructed that official who violate such methods will be accused of contempt of court charge and have to provide compensation. The guidelines must be implemented properly so that such destructive acts can be reduced gradually. Keywords: Bulldozer Justice, property demolition, Fundamental rights, Judiciary, Pan-India Guidelines
INTRODUCTION
Bulldozer Justice the word has created a new sensation throughout the country. In some states of our country, a new way of providing punishments has started by demolishing an accused person’s house using bulldozers. In some instances, the process becomes so swift that people become homeless without even knowing their actual fault. The incidents of such illegal demolition are increasing so much that the Judiciary has to intervene from time to time to stop them. But sometimes the court orders are also not followed. To prevent such extrajudicial actions of the executive a division bench of the Supreme Court has formulated some guidelines at the Pan-India level. These guidelines will ensure that proper procedures are followed before demolishing anyone’s property and the scope of illegal activities can also be decreased.
In this article, the author will try to find out how the bulldozer justices are going against the already prevailed rights and norms in India, if the separation of Power Doctrine is also getting violated, and how the Judiciary’s guidelines can be effective to prevent such drastic steps.
METHODOLOGY
The research article has been written using the qualitative method. As the topic mainly depends upon analysing the legality of Bulldozer Justice and how it is affecting society’s laws and norms, the qualitative method is appropriate for this article. WHAT IS BULLDOZER JUSTICE The term defines a practice where state authorities exceed their power by razing a person’s house based on the mere allegation that the person has committed some organized crimes or communal violence. Executive members commit such acts to provide punishment to those offenders. But providing punishment is the work of the Judiciary as a result of the act of Bulldozer Justice is an extrajudicial act that also goes against the common values and norms of the Constitution. HOW BULLDOZER JUSTICE IS VIOLATING PEOPLE’S RIGHTS India is a democratic country where we follow rules and regulations in every sphere of our lives.
When someone commits an offense, he also gets punished but that punishment should also be provided as per law. We abide by the reformative theory of punishment the main aspect of it is changing a person’s attitude and mindset rather than inflicting the same harm on him that he has previously created through his act. From that perspective demolishing someone’s property because they have committed some wrong is completely unconstitutional. The devastating act also hampers some fundamental rights and legal rights of individuals and also goes against some international regulations as well. VIOLATION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS Article 211 of our Indian Constitution ensures the Right to life and personal liberty.
The right to live does not mean mere animal existence this right is inclusive of the right to food, water, decent environment, education, medical care, and right to shelter also comes under it. And this right is available to all the citizens of India irrespective of their association with any kind of crime. They can only be given punishment by the procedures established by law. In that regard the state authority's act of demolishing someone’s shelter just because they are allegedly accused of any crime is a clear violation of people’s fundamental rights. Article 19(1)(e)2 also gives people the right to have a residence. In case any people illegally construct their house or occupy any place proper legal procedure has to be followed before vacating that place overnight demolition cannot be a solution to that problem.
In Chameli Singh v State of UP3, the Supreme Court held that the right to shelter is an intrinsic part of the right to life. In case the government needs to acquire a person’s property proper notice should be given before such act and the person should be provided with alternative accommodation. In Olga Tellis v Bombay Municipal Corporation4, the Supreme Court held that pavement dwellers cannot be evicted from their shelter by using unreasonable force. The proper procedure needs to be followed also before evicting them. As per the principle of Natural Justice, they should also be given a chance to clear their stance. Otherwise, their Right to Livelihood will be violated which comes under Article 21.
1 The Constitution of India, 1949, No. 21, Acts of Parliament, 1950 (India) s.21
2 The Constitution of India, 1949, No. 19(1)(e), Acts of Parliament, 1950 (India) s.19(1)(e)
3 Chameli Singh and Others Etc. vs State of U.P. And Another AIR1996 (SC 1051)
4 Olga Tellis & Ors vs Bombay Municipal Corporation & Ors. Etc AIR 1986 (SUPREME COURT 180)
VIOLATION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS Article 300A5 of the Indian Constitution states that no person can be deprived of their property except by law-established procedures. As the property right is a legal right demolishing someone’s property without following proper procedures is also violative of legal rights. The government has the power to acquire some property for the greater public good but for that people should be provided alternative places to reside and some compensation as well. VIOLATION OF PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE THEORY Our Indian Criminal Justice system is based on the principle that an accused will be treated as innocent until proven guilty. A person's guilt has to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Before proving the guilt of any person, he cannot be punished.
The Bulldozer Justice system also violates this presumption by imposing hardcore punishment like bulldozing someone's house based on a mere allegation. State authority's usurpation over the Judiciary’s power also undermines the public’s trust in the Judiciary. VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAWS6 There are also some international acts and regulations that ensure that every nation should provide its citizens with basic facilities for living a dignified life. And the countries can follow those regulations as guiding and directive principles if there is no specific regulation in the country about that. But international laws can only be followed in a country if it is not violating the Parliamentarian laws there. a. India is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as a result, India needs to follow the rules and laws of it.
Article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights conveys those basic human rights like food, clothing, housing, and medical care should be provided to people to maintain a standard of life and ensure their well-being. That means besides being a Fundamental right and legal right to shelter is also a human right and the state must protect that. Taking that thing into consideration razing someone’s property based on the
5 The Constitution of India, 1949, No. 300A, Acts of Parliament, 1950 (India) s.300A
See Aishwarya Agrawal, Bulldozer Justice: The Concept, Law Bhoomi (Sep. 3, 2024) https://lawbhoomi. com/bulldozer-justice-the-concept/ (Last Visited Dec. 7, 2024) presumption of their alleged crime is also violative of human rights. b. Article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights says that for improving the standard of living and betterment of conditions maintaining an adequate standard of housing, food, and clothing is necessary. c. When State authorities raze someone’s property through the use of a Bulldozer, they are not just doing injustice to a single individual all the members of the house are also getting punished despite their innocence. This is known as collective punishment. Article 87(3) of the Geneva Convention forbids the act of collective punishment.
So providing punishment through bulldozer justice also violates the Geneva Convention’s rules. HOW SOCIETY IS GETTING IMPACTED THROUGH BULLDOZER JUSTICE?
In 2024 The Housing and Land Rights Network estimated that in the previous two years, that is 2022 and 2023 total of 153,820 houses were demolished resulting in the displacement of 7,38,438 people. 7 Bulldozer Justice is negatively affecting society. Sometimes critics opine that through the process of bulldozer justice mainly a specific community’s people are only targeted. India is home to a billion people who follow separate religions targeting a single religion people can cause communal violence that can have future consequences. Bulldozer Justice has become a great way to provide instant justice. State authorities are taking away the Judiciary’s power to provide punishment by demolishing those accused houses. The rule of law is getting violated and people’s faith and trust in the justice delivery system is also getting decreased.
Consequently, lawlessness is also increasing in the society. Providing punishment through demolition is also creating upheaval in society. Sometimes the minority community people are only targeted that is creating rift and bitterness in the society among different communities. Maintaining law and order is becoming more difficult day by day. 7 Bulldozer Justice, Drishti IAS, (Sep. 14, 2024) https://www. drishtiias. com/state-pcs-current-affairs/bulldozerjustice (Last Visited Dec.
7, 2024) SUPREME COURT JUDGMENTS ON PREVENTING BULLDOZER JUSTICE Three Judge bench of a Supreme Court headed by former CJI D Y Chandrachud on the 10th of November provided a judgment on a matter regarding the demolition of a house in UP’s Maharajganj in 2019 where it stated that “Citizens’ voices cannot be throttled by a threat of destroying their properties, and “bulldozer justice” is simply unacceptable under the rule of law. ” It also states that in a civilized society’s jurisprudence Bulldozer system is completely unconstitutional and extrajudicial over-reach of executive power. If this type of act is allowed to continue, the constitutional rights protecting the Right to Property will be of no value. The bench has directed the UP government to pay 25 lakhs as interim maintenance to the victim whose house was demolished because of road development projects.
8 In another recent judgment, the bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice K V Vishwanathan pronounced Pan-India guidelines that need to be followed before demolishing any person’s property. The bench was deciding a matter regarding the house demolition of one Rashid Khan’s because the tenant’s son had committed a crime. The court, in this case, said that without following due legal process an accused person’s house cannot be demolished on the mere allegation that he has committed any crime. “If the executive in an arbitrary manner demolishes the houses of citizens only on the ground that they are accused of a crime, then it acts contrary to the principles of ‘rule of law’. If the executive acts as a judge and inflicts a penalty of demolition on a citizen on the ground that he is an accused, it violates the principle of ‘separation of powers.
” If state authority members continue with bulldozer actions without following legal procedures, the victim and the other family members will be entitled to compensation. Any officer who violates the court’s order will be facing contempt of Court proceedings against them and they will pay damages to the aggrieved party from their cost. The bench stated that demolition of a building without following the due process of law and the principles of Natural Justice is completely condemnable and it takes us to a state that is 8 ‘Bulldozer justice’ simply unacceptable under rule of law, says Supreme Court, THE HINDU (Nov. 10, 2024) lawless and power is given prevalence over people’s rights. Indian criminal justice system is based on a presumption that a person will be regarded as innocent until proven guilty.
So, razing a house on the ground that one person residing there who is accused of any crime will provide punishment to other family members residing there. As the right to shelter is also regarded as a Fundamental Right under Article 21 which discusses about Right to Life, those innocent persons are also facing grave violations of fundamental rights which is unconstitutional. 9 GUIDELINES GIVEN BY THE COURT FOR CONDUCTING LAWFUL DEMOLITION10 The court has given the following directions: ● The owner of the property or the occupier of the building must be provided with a minimum 15-day notice period before conducting any demolition. The notice should include the reason behind the demolition and the complete structure of the property. ● The affected party should be given a specific date to contest the decision of the authorities against the demolition.
● To make the process transparent and avoid any kind of backdating or tampering on the notice the state authorities must notify the district magistrate or the local collector via email with an auto-reply acknowledgement. ● The court has also directed that within 3 months from the judgment date the local authorities have to create a designated digital portal where every detail regarding the demolished property, the orders, show cause notice and their replies will be uploaded. ● After hearing the owner’s arguments, a final order needs to be issued by the authorities mentioning the petitioner’s arguments and the authority’s justification for the 9 See Deeksha, Bulldozer actions against properties for simply being an accused or convict, unconstitutional; Executive cannot be a Judge and demolish properties: SC, SCC Online, (Nov. 13, 2024) https://www. scconline.
com/blog/post/2024/11/13/bulldozer-actions-demolishing-properties-merely-accusedconvict-unconstitutional-supreme-court/ (Last Visited Dec. 7, 2024) Supreme Court Guidelines on “Bulldozer Justice”, Drishti IAS, (Nov. 14, 2024) https://www. drishtiias. com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/supreme-court-guidelines-on-bulldozer-justice (Last Visited Dec. 7, 2024) demolition. The order must clarify whether the entire or the partial structure needs to be demolished. ● After the demolition order is issued the apex court has mandated 15 days must be given to the owner for challenging the demolition order in court. ● The whole act of demolition must be video graphed by the concerned authorities and they must prepare an inspection report and a demolition report with it the report needs to be submitted to the municipal commissioner and also to be uploaded in the digital portal.
● The Supreme Court has also laid down a test for those properties that are demolished because an accused lived there as well as the property is also an illegal construction under municipal laws. While considering this type of property if the court finds out that a similar structure of illegal properties has not been demolished the court may conclude that the motive behind the demolition of the property was to penalize the accused rather than remove an illegal construction. EXCEPTIONS The court also clarified that any unauthorized structure created on public properties such as roads, streets, footpaths beside railway lines and any structure where the demolition order has been passed by the court will not be protected under these guidelines. IMPORTANCE OF THE SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES
1. This verdict emphasizes that the executive cannot overpower the Judiciary in punishing
someone. The judiciary is only authorized to decide the guilt of any person and to provide them with punishment as per the law.
2. Conducting the demolition process without following legal procedures undermines the
laws and regulations of the country. Sometimes a particular community people become victims of the demolition process which also violates the Right to equality that is protected under Article 14 as a Fundamental Right.
3. As the right to have shelter is a fundamental right as well as a legal right, the state
authorities cannot violate these rights. Because a person has committed any crime that does not give the justification for demolishing their property. SUGGESTIONS Providing certain guidelines cannot change the ill mindset of the people. The government has to take strict measures and needs to ensure that the guidelines provided by the courts are being followed. Providing instant justice to people by giving someone retributive punishment is not the culture of India. Every citizen of India including the accused or the convicted also has certain basic rights that cannot be taken away by anyone. In case a certain area needs to be vacated proper legal procedure needs to be followed and the aggrieved person must be given an alternative residential area and in some cases compensation as well.
STEPS TO BE FOLLOWED BEFORE LAWFUL DEMOLITION11 Sometimes demolition can be needed for any public purpose or vacating someone who has acquired any public property. There needs to be proper procedures for conducting that act. If the steps can be followed systematically there will be no chance of creating problems in the society.
1 Pre-Demolition Phase
Before demolition of people’s property in a place the state authorities had to prove and justify their displacement process and their intention should be protecting people’s rights rather than conducting demolition to provide punitive punishment. Notice should be provided so that the people who are staying in those land get enough time to respond about their stance. An independent review committee needs to be formed that will consist of both the Judiciary and the Executive to review the whole process. The affected people should be given compensation or an alternative rehabilitation place before conducting demolition.
2 Demolition Phase
During the demolition phase proper care should be taken regarding the use of a minimum amount of force and collateral damage to other properties has to be taken care of. Officials 11 Bulldozer Justice, Drishti IAS, (Sep. 14, 2024) https://www.drishtiias.com/state-pcs-current-affairs/bulldozerjustice (Last Visited Dec. 7, 2024) should be present in the area to see that the process happens smoothly without creating any inconveniences for anyone.
3 Post Demolition Phase
The people who were left homeless have to be rehabilitated. Those people should be given the chance to redress any of their grievances before proper bodies. If the authorities are taking away people’s property for the public’s benefit, they should be given compensation.
CONCLUSION
India is a democratic country where the people are considered the most important part of the governance. Our constitution provides various basic rights to the citizens that ensure their right to life with proper dignity. There are also provisions for giving punishments to the offenders. But every process needs to be lawful. Arbitrarily punishing someone for committing any kind of crime is not acceptable in any civilized society. So, bulldozer Justice is not at all appropriate in Indian culture where the severely accused people also have some form of rights. In the past Judiciary has intervened many times to prevent this type of demolition. In the recent judgment, the court has also provided some guidelines the authorities need to follow so that we can come out from the notion of instant justice and people's faith in the justice delivery system can be reconciled.