15 steps for officials in Supreme Court guidelines on demolitions

Coming down heavily on states which have been acting as judges by driving bulldozers into homes, the Supreme Court bench of justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan has observed that the chilling sight of bulldozers demolishing buildings reminded them of lawlessness.

Failure to follow the principle of natural justice and due process reflected ‘might is right’, the Bench observed. The justices ruled that destroying family homes and leaving entire families homeless was nothing short of ‘anarchy’.

“If his spouse, children and parents live in the same house or co-own the same property, can they be penalised by demolishing the property without them even being involved in any crime? As is well known, a pious father may have a recalcitrant son and vice versa. Depriving innocent people of their right to life by removing shelter from their heads, in our considered view, would be wholly unconstitutional," Justice Gavai observed.

The landmark judgment states that officials who carry out illegal demolitions or violate judicial directions would be held liable to pay damages and also restore the properties at their ‘personal cost’. The officials would also be liable to be hauled up for contempt of court, the judgment held.

“The officials should also be informed that if the demolition is found to be in violation of the orders of this Court, the officer/officers concerned will be held responsible for restitution of the demolished property at his/their personal cost in addition to payment of damages," reads the relevant part of the judgment.

It also highlights that the directions will not be applicable if there is an unauthorised structure in any public place such as a road, street, footpath, abutting railway line or any river body or water bodies, and also to cases where there is an order for demolition issued by a court of law.

The Supreme Court has laid down elaborate guidelines to be followed before any demolition by the government. The most important steps in the guidelines are the following:

1. Minimum 15 days’ prior notice required to be served before any demolition

2. The notice must be served by registered post with A/D and also affixed prominently on the structure

3. The 15-day notice period will start from the date the notice is served

4. Intimation that notice has been served to be intimated to the office of the DM/collector by email with auto-generated acknowledgment

5. District magistrates must designate a nodal officer, assign an email address and communicate to all municipal and other authorities within a month, by 13 December 2024

6. The notice served should detail the nature of the unauthorised construction, the specific violation and grounds for demolition

7. The notice must also provide a date and identify the designated authority for a personal hearing

8. Minutes of the personal hearing must be recorded

9. Following the hearing, a final order will be passed which will contain the contentions made by the accused and, if the authority disagrees, the reasons for the disagreement

10. The final order must also say why demolition is the only option and why fines, compounding or partial demolition of the property are not

11. No order of demolition will be carried out for a period of 15 days from the receipt of the order.

12. The final order should also be uploaded on the digital portal of the municipal authority

13. There should also be an appellate authority and time allowed for appealing against the final order

14. A detailed inspection report prepared by the authorities and signed by two witnesses shall be prepared

15. The demolition should be video-graphed and the recording preserved