New Delhi: The Supreme Court has expressed extreme displeasure with the Uttar Pradesh government for demolishing houses in Prayagraj built on land allegedly belonging to late gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed. The demolition was carried out in 2021.
Observing that the act ‘shocks their conscience’, the Supreme Court bench called the decision of the Prayagraj civic authorities ‘illegal’, ‘inhuman’ and ‘insensitive’. It ordered the state government to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the petitioners – a lawyer, a professor and two women.
The court observed that the demolition was not only illegal but also violative of the the most important fundamental right – the Right to Shelter – that comes under the Right to Life. “Residential premises/buildings have been high-handedly demolished,” the bench noted.
The demolition was carried out at a compound in Lukerganj, Prayagraj, in 2021. According to the petitioners, the demolition was carried out on March 7, 2021, barely a day after a notice was served on March 6, 2021. This did not allow them sufficient time to move the appellate body against the order.
The petitioners had moved the Allahabad High Court against the demolition but their prayer had been turned down, following which they moved the Supreme Court. During a past hearing, the SC had hauled up the state government for carrying out demolition without following due process.
In the past, the Apex Court has held that occupants of buildings – deemed to be illegal – will have to be given sufficient time to appeal, before demolition is carried out.
Atiq Ahmed, a former MP and MLA of the Samajwadi Party had 160 criminal cases registered against him. He was assassinated in 2023 when he was serving a jail term. The Uttar Pradesh Police claim to have attached property worth Rs 11,684 crore belonging to him and his family.
