Ex-Judges Urge Supreme Court To Step In regarding P Bulldozer Action and said it’s "Mockery Of Law"

Three former Supreme Court judges among 12 prominent persons who have urged the court to react to the "violence and repression by state authorities"

Accusing the state administration of "making a mockery of the Constitution", three former Supreme Court judges are among 12 prominent persons who have urged the court to react to the "violence and repression by state authorities against Muslim citizens" protesting over BJP representatives' remarks on Prophet Muhammad.

Their letter to the court specifically terms the bulldozing of homes of protesters "an unacceptable subversion of the rule of law", and requests the court to require suo motu cognizance. Besides former Supreme Court judges B Sudarshan Reddy, V Gopala Gowda and AK Ganguly, the day letter is signed by three former judicature judges and 6 lawyers.

The Prayagraj Development Authority had on Sunday bulldozed the house of Javed Ahmad, presupposed to are involved within the June 10 violent protests triggered by now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's controversial remarks on the Prophet. The allegedly illegal properties of two persons accused of rioting were bulldozed in Saharanpur too.

"The coordinated manner within which the police and development authorities have acted lead(s) to the clear conclusion that demolitions are a variety of collective extra-judicial punishment," the letter reads.

The Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested 333 people from eight districts and registered 13 FIRs for the June 10 protests.

"Videos of young men in police custody being beaten with lathis, houses of protestors being demolished unexpectedly or any reason for action, and protestors from the minority Muslim community being chased and beaten by the police, are circulating on social media, shaking the conscience of the state," reads the letter.

It says that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's reported statements sanctioning action that "sets an example" further emboldened the police "to torture protestors".

"The mettle of the judiciary is tested in such critical times," the letter tells the Supreme Court. Saying that the judiciary has within the past "emerged with distinction because the custodian of the rights of the people", the letter cites samples of suo motu action by the Supreme Court, like when migrant workers were forced to steer home during the 2020 Covid lockdown and therefore the Pegasus spyware matter.

Signatories include Justice AP Shah, former magistrate of Delhi court and former chairperson of the Law Commission of India; Justice K Chandru, who served the Madras state supreme court, and Justice Mohammed Anwar, who served the Karnataka court. 

Six senior lawyers also are a part of the appeal - former law minister Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Indira Jaising, Chander Uday Singh, Sriram Panchu and Anand Grover.