Only affected party can say if building legal: SG

NEW DELHI: As the row over bulldozer demolitions in UP reached Supreme Court, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind argued that the drives were in brazen violation of the process of law which mandated prior notice and sufficient time for the aggrieved to move appellate forums against demolition notices. Countering the stand, solicitor general Tushar Mehta asked how Jamiat would known the legal status of the buildings which were demolished.
The bench scheduled further hearings next week.
Senior counsel CU Singh, Huzefa Ahmadi and Nitya Ramakrishnan appeared for the Jamiat. “At any rate, even if the structures are illegal, should the occupants not get sufficient time to move their belongings? It cannot be an overnight covert operation in violation of law,” the Jamiat argued.
“This is being done as per the publicly announced retaliatory policy of the CM. This is shocking, unconstitutional, appalling and horrifying. It did not happen during the dark days of Emergency. This demolition of houses to target members of a particular community, who are booked for rioting, goondaism and stone-pelting, must stop as the structures could be owned by their parents or relatives.”
Solicitor general Mehta countered: “Only an affected party can tell the court whether construction of his house was legal, whether it was demolished without following due process of law, whether he was involved in stone-pelting, rioting or goondaism, and whether the government targeted him just because he belonged to a particular community.”
Senior advocate Harish Salve said at Prayagraj, the person concerned was served notice about the illegal structure on May 10 and a hearing was given on May 24, both before the clashes took place, he said, and asked how this could be targeting a member of a particular community.