NEW DELHI: The Uttar Pradesh govt was at the receiving end on Tuesday, as the Supreme Court came down heavily on the Yogi Adityanath government and Prayagraj Development Authority over the illegal act of demolishing homes without following the due process of law.”This shocks our conscience,” the court held while referring to the demolitions even as it termed the misconduct of the UP government as “inhumane and illegal.”Warning the UP govt for its lackadaisical attitude in not following the due process of law, a two-judge bench of the apex court, led by Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, said, “Authorities and especially development authorities must remember that the right to shelter is also an integral part of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”The apex court’s strong observation came, on Tuesday, after hearing a joint plea filed by advocate Zulfiqar Haider, professor Ali Ahmed and others whose houses were allegedly demolished by the Prayagraj Development Authority.Haider, Ahmed and others knocked the doors of the Supreme Court, after their fervent plea to stop the demolition was rejected by the Allahabad High Court had rejected their pleas challenging the demolition.Significantly, various state govts — including Gujarat, and many others — are in dock for not complying with the apex court’s earlier ruling which debars them to demolish private persons property in ilegal manner and “not following the rule of law.”The top court severely castigated the UP govt of its ilegal act and said, “Carrying out demolition in such a manner shows insensitivity on the part of the statutory development authority.”
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