Justice Ujjal Bhuyan says innocent family members are made to suffer due to the destruction of the home of an accused person
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – If bulldozer action is allowed to go unchecked, it will destroy the very edifice of the justice delivery system in the country, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the Supreme Court has said.
“Using a bulldozer to demolish a property is like running a bulldozer over the Constitution. It is a negation of the very concept of rule of law and if not checked, would destroy the very edifice of our justice delivery system,” he said while addressing the students of Bharatiya Vidyapeeth New Law College in Pune at the weekend.
“In recent times, we are witnessing a very disturbing and depressing practice of State authorities using bulldozers to demolish houses and properties of persons accused of committing certain offences,” he added.
Justice Bhuyan also referred to the recent Supreme Court judgment critical of the bulldozer actions and the laying down of guidelines to check arbitrary demolition of properties. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states continue demolishing houses, mostly belonging to accused members of the Muslim community.
On Monday, authorities in Maharashtra’s Nagpur demolished the properties of a Muslim leader, Fahim Khan, days after he was named in a case related to the recent communal violence.
The Supreme Court judge pointed out that even innocent family members are made to suffer due to the destruction of the home of an accused person.
“In that house, all right, we assume that this person may be an accused or he may be a convict, but his mother stays there, his sister stays there, his wife stays there, his children stay there. What is their fault? If you demolish that house, where will they go? It is not right to take away the shelter over their heads. I would add, why only them? What about the accused? What about the convict? Just because somebody is an accused in an offense or a convict, that doesn’t mean that his house should be demolished,” he said.
In his speech, the sitting judge also urged the Supreme Court to introspect whether the court has gone wrong.
“We need to introspect, whether, some way down the line, have we gone wrong. Only if we do that, only if we introspect, then only there can be course correction. I am of the firm belief that there is enough room for course correction in the Indian judiciary. As a sitting Supreme Court judge, I have no hesitation in saying it. Supreme Court is supreme because it is the final court. Had there been any other court above the Supreme Court, many of the judgments of the Supreme Court will have to suffer a relook,” said Justice Bhuyan.
Justice Bhuyan also asserted that there must be consistency in judicial decisions and that law cannot be selectively applied to the litigants. “The endeavour should always be to enhance our right-based jurisprudence and our human rights, accretion to the rights and not a roll back on the rights,” he said.
Justice Bhuyan also urged law students to cultivate a critical mindset, emphasising the importance of questioning and analysing judicial decisions.
