SC issues norms on demolitions, says violation will result in prosecution

 Laying down pan-India directives governing demolitions of unauthorised structures, the Supreme Court on Wednesday cautioned that flouting its directions by state officials will result in criminal contempt and prosecution.

After several petitions were filed before the apex court alleging that demolitions were carried out by several state authorities without sufficient notice, a Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan issued a slew of directions under Article 142 of the Constitution.

In an interim order passed on September 17, the Justice Gavai-led Bench paused all demolition actions across the country, except with its permission.

Frowning upon "glorification" and "grandstanding" over bulldozer action, the top court said that unauthorised structures may be demolished following the due procedure but under no circumstances, property is to be demolished for "extraneous reasons".

The SC stressed that even unauthorised construction has to be demolished in "accordance with law" and state authorities cannot resort to demolition of the property of the accused as an extra punitive measure.

Here are the pan-India directives laid down by the highest court of the land:

No demolition will be carried out without a prior show cause notice returnable either in accordance with the time provided by the local municipal laws or within 15 days’ time from the date of service of such notice, whichever is later.

The time of 15 days will start from the date of receipt of the notice.

The notice will be served upon the owner/occupier by a registered post, apart from affixing on the outer portion of the structure in question.

As soon as the show cause notice is served, intimation will be sent to the office of Collector/District Magistrate by email and an auto generated reply acknowledging receipt of the mail should also be issued from the office of the Collector/District Magistrate.

The notice should contain the details regarding the nature of the unauthorised construction, the details of the specific violation and the grounds of demolition and a list of documents that the noticee 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 minutes of such a hearing will also be recorded.

Within three months, every municipal and local authority will assign a designated digital portal, where details regarding service/pasting of the notice, the reply, the show cause notice and the order passed would be available.

Upon hearing, the designated authority shall pass a final order. The final order should contain as to why the extreme step of demolition is the only option available and other options like compounding and demolishing only part of the property are not available.

The demolition order will not be implemented for a period of 15 days and will be displayed on the digital portal.

An opportunity should be given to the owner/occupier to remove the unauthorised construction or demolish the same within a period of 15 days.

Only after the period of 15 days from the date of receipt of the notice has expired and the owner/occupier has not removed/demolished the unauthorised construction, and if the same is not stayed by any appellate authority or a court, the concerned authority will take steps to demolish the same.

Before demolition, a detailed inspection report shall be prepared by the concerned authority signed by two witnesses.

The demolition will be video-graphed, and the concerned authority will also prepare a demolition report. The video recording to be duly preserved.

The demolition report should be forwarded to the Municipal Commissioner by email and will also be displayed on the digital portal.

The SC said that violation of any of the directions would lead to initiation of contempt proceedings in addition to the prosecution.

The officials should also be informed that if the demolition is found to be in violation of the SC orders, the officer concerned will be held responsible for restitution of the demolished property at his personal cost in addition to payment of damages.

The SC clarified that these directions will not be applicable if there is an unauthorised structure in any public place such as road, street, footpath, abutting railway line 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 apex court ordered that registry to circulate a copy of its judgment to the chief secretaries of all the states and Union Territories and the Registrar Generals of all the High Courts.

“All State Governments shall issue circulars to all the District Magistrates and local authorities intimating them about the directions issued by this court,” it added.