Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 13: The Supreme Court today declined to enact a nationwide ban on demolitions, emphasising that doing so would restrict the rights of municipal authoritiese.
The court is currently considering a plea filed by the Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind over demolition operations that it claims targeted members of the minority population in particular.
The Uttar Pradesh administration has received a notice in this regard from the Supreme Court. The state administration has defended the demolition efforts as standard operations to clear encroachment in its response to the court.
In response to concerns over recent demolitions in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the court has now requested the governments of those two states’ responses.
Notably, after destroying the residence of Javed Mohammed, the principal suspect in the Prayagraj riots caused by statements made by suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma about the Prophet Muhammad, the Uttar Pradesh government came under criticism.
After leaving a notice declaring an illegal building outside the home of the local lawmaker for several hours, the bulldozer arrived. The family claims they did not receive any responses from Mohammed despite the government’s assertion that he did not.
The state has emphasised that the demolitions in Uttar Pradesh were legal and that action is being taken against protesters in accordance with different laws.