Bulldozer Action Against Accused Home is trending in State Govt. Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave spoke out against the growing to practise of state government Bulldozer Action in the homes of people suspected of crimes on Tuesday. He made it clear that Article 21 of the Constitution protects the right to a home as an important part of the right to life.
Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Misra were hearing a group of petitions about a home demolition drive that happened in April 2022 in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri but was later stopped by the top court. They were also hearing a separate plea against states demolishing the homes of people who are suspected of crimes. Other issues that were connected were also being looked at by the bench.
Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave was worried about the effects of “bulldozer justice” on the families of criminals whose homes had been demolished. He asked the Supreme Court of India to “settle the law” on whether the government can use these kinds of powers, especially to target a certain group of people. The senior counsel also expressed concerns about the mostly Muslim make-up of the group of people in Jahangirpuri who were served with the home demolition notice, but Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta harshly dismissed this as an “off-the-cuff submission.”
The police officer said that most people in the area were Hindu and that the destruction drive would touch many of them.
Dave asked the Court to rebuild the homes that were completely destroyed.
A group of Islamic preachers made a petition asking the government to say that using bulldozers as a form of punishment is not allowed. Brinda Karat, a former member of the Rajya Sabha and head of the CPI(M), has also filed another plea against the demolish by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation in the Jahangirpuri area after the violence during the Shobha Yatra processions in April of last year.