Demolishing Houses Of A Lawyer, Professor, & 3 Others: Supreme Court Criticizes UP Government, Says, “Will Order Reconstruction At Your Cost”

On March 05, 2025 (Wednesday), the Supreme Court (SC) bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice N Kotiswar Singh strongly disapproved the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government’s action of demolishing the houses of a lawyer, a professor, and 3 others in Prayagraj. It criticized the UP government, stating that such actions sent a ‘shocking and wrong signal’. During the proceedings, Justice Oka said that there is something called Article 21 and pointed out the top court’s recent judgment on bulldozer justice highlighting the procedure to be followed before demolition. He said, “There is now a judgment of the co-ordinate bench on bulldozer justice also.” He sharply criticized the state and said, “Now we will order reconstruction at your cost, that is the only way to do this.” 

Earlier, the matter was heard by the Allahabad High Court (HC), which dismissed the petitioner’s (Advocate Zulfiqar Haider, Professor Ali Ahmed, two widows, and another individual) plea against the demolition. The petitioners approached the SC after the Allahabad HC’s dismissal. The counsel appearing for the petitioner contended that the state wrongly linked their land to gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed. The petitioners submitted that they were lessees not trespassers. They added that they had applied for conversion of their leasehold interest into freehold. The petitioners said that a demolition notice was issued on March 01, 2021, which was served on March 06, 2021, and demolition was carried out on March 07, 2021, without giving them time to challenge the same. 

After hearing the matter, the SC bench took a firm stand against the UP government’s action and listed the matter for further hearing on March 21, 2025.