‘If Supreme Court Wants to Stop Illegal Bulldozer Demolitions It Must Jail the Officers Responsible’

As a way of stopping illegal demolitions guidelines are "meaningless and insufficient": Director, Vidhi Centre, Arghya Sengupta, to Karan Thapar for The Wire.

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In a sharp, focused and hard-hitting critique of the Supreme Court’s decision to lay down guidelines as a way of checking illegal demolitions carried out by bulldozers – what’s commonly called bulldozer justice – one of India’s foremost legal analysts has said guidelines on their own are “meaningless and insufficient”. Arghya Sengupta described illegal bulldozer demolitions as “uncivilized demonstrations of brute power” adding that they do not “expedite justice” but show people who “holds the reins of power”.



Arghya Sengupta said mere guidelines will not make “a whiff of difference on the ground”. He added: “The Supreme Court cannot stop at making guidelines. If it stops at making guidelines its short-sighted.”



In a 20-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Arghya Sengupta, who is the Research Director of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, said that if the Supreme Court is “really serious about stopping such demolitions it must haul up officers responsible for them”. Mr. Sengupta specified three critical measures the Court must lay down. First, imprison the officer or officers responsible for illegal demolitions. Second, compensate the person whose house has been demolished from the salary of the errant officer/officers. Third, initiate dismissal proceedings.



Mr. Sengupta said only when these steps are taken will “docile officers and their brazen political bosses think twice before running a bulldozer through people’s houses.”



Mr. Sengupta said not only are illegal bulldozer demolitions “a violation of the law” but they are also “contempt of the orders of the Supreme Court”.



The response of A. K. Sharma, a Minister in the UP Government, to the Supreme Court’s decision to lay down guidelines clearly suggests that guidelines on their own will not make any difference at all. Mr. Sharma has publicly said that the use of bulldozers will continue.


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