The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the government cannot punish an accused or a convict by demolishing their property without serving a prior showcause notice and giving the affected party 15 days to challenge the order, coming down heavily on “bulldozer justice” and saying such measures should be avoided even if there is no legal challenge.

The apex court issued a slew of guidelines to prevent arbitrary exercise of power by the authorities, directing the recovery of compensation from errant officials and the initiation of contempt proceedings in case its orders are violated.

“We are further of the view that even in cases of persons who do not wish to contest the demolition order, sufficient time needs to be given to them to vacate and arrange their affairs. It is not a happy sight to see women, children and aged persons dragged to the streets overnight. Heavens would not fall on the authorities if they hold their hands for some period,” a bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan said in its judgment.

The bench, however, clarified that the directions would not apply to unauthorised structures in public places such as “roads, streets, footpaths, abutting railway lines or any river body or water bodies and also to cases where there is an order for demolition made by a court of law”.

The bench was dealing with a batch of petitions filed by various organisations and individuals challenging the increasing instances of authorities deploying bulldozers to demolish alleged illegal private properties.

Following are the directions passed by the court:

◉ No demolition should be carried out without a prior showcause notice returnable either in accordance with the time provided by the local municipal laws or within 15 days from the date of serving the notice, whichever is later

◉ The notice shall be served upon the owner/occupier by registered post. Additionally, the notice shall be affixed conspicuously on the outer portion of the structure in question

◉ To prevent any allegation of backdating, the bench directed that as soon as the showcause notice is served, an intimation shall be sent to the office of the collector or district magistrate concerned by email. An auto-generated reply acknowledging receipt of the mail should also be issued from the office of the collector/DM

◉ The collector/DM shall designate a nodal officer to communicate the proposal of demolition to all municipal and other authorities in charge of building regulations and demolition. Also, email IDs will have to be created for official communications between the demolishing authorities and the DM and nodal officers. This system will have to be put in place within a month from Wednesday

◉ The notice shall contain details regarding the nature of unauthorised construction, specific violations, grounds for demolition and the list of documents that the recipient is required to furnish along with his reply

◉ The notice should also specify the date on which the personal hearing is fixed and the designated authority before whom the hearing will take place

◉ The designated authority shall give the person concerned an opportunity for personal hearing and pass a final order. The minutes of the hearing shall be recorded

◉ Every municipal/local authority shall assign a designated digital portal, within three months from Wednesday, where details regarding the notice, the reply and the order passed thereon will be available

◉ The final order should contain the contentions of the noticee and if the designated authority disagrees with the arguments, reasons will have to be furnished

◉ The final order should mention why the extreme step of demolition is the only option available and why other options such as compounding and demolishing only a part of the property are not available

◉ The proceedings of demolition shall be videographed. The authority concerned shall prepare a demolition report containing a list of police officers and civil personnel who took part in the process

◉The demolition report should be emailed to the municipal commissioner and displayed on the digital portal

“Needless to state that the authorities hereinafter shall strictly comply with the aforesaid directions issued by us. It will also be informed that violation of any of the directions would lead to initiation of contempt proceedings in addition to the prosecution,” Justice Gavai, who authored the judgment, said.

“The officials should also be informed that if the demolition is found to be in violation of the orders of this court, the officer/officers concerned will be held responsible for restitution of the demolished property at his/their personal cost in addition to payment of damages,” he said.