The Supreme Court on Thursday granted interim protection for a week to two petitioners from Uttar Pradesh who alleged that authorities had already begun partial demolition of their residential and marriage hall properties without prior notice.
A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta directed that status quo be maintained during this period, allowing the petitioners time to approach the Allahabad High Court for appropriate relief.
“Considering that partial demolition has already been affected, we grant interim protection for a period of one week as status quo would be maintained by the parties,” the bench said, while making it clear that its protection would not influence the high court’s decision on the merits of the plea for stay.
The petitioners had moved the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution seeking to restrain further demolition, arguing that no notice was served and no opportunity of hearing was provided. One of the petitioners is a 75-year-old man, counsel submitted.
The bench questioned why the petitioners had bypassed the Allahabad High Court.
“The court has already given a detailed judgment. Then approach the high court and take benefit of that judgment. Why should you come in Article 32 every time?” the bench said, adding, “It is not that the Allahabad High Court does not consider urgency. You have to make a mention.”
When counsel sought 15 days protection, the bench declined, noting that such a precedent would open the door for all demolition cases to first reach the Supreme Court. “We can entertain all matters before this court and Article 226 will be made redundant,” Justice Nath observed.
The bench refused to entertain the petition under Article 32 but granted liberty to move the jurisdictional high court under Article 226 and seek urgent listing. “In demolition matters before the high court, the day they are mentioned, they are taken up for hearing also,” the bench noted.
The Supreme Court also remarked that if the petitioners believed the authorities had violated its earlier demolition-related judgment, they were free to file a contempt petition.
In a significant judgment delivered in November last year, the Supreme Court laid down nationwide guidelines prohibiting demolition of properties without issuing prior show cause notice and providing affected persons at least 15 days to respond. The court had stated that the executive cannot assume judicial powers by demolishing homes as a form of punishment without due process, terming such actions “high-handed and arbitrary” requiring the “heavy hand of the law”.
The directions do not apply to unauthorised constructions on public land—such as roads, footpaths, railway tracks, riverbeds—or where demolition has been specifically ordered by a court.
