Supreme Court lays down steps to be followed by authorities before clearing encroachments for road-widening

The Supreme Court in the case In Re Manoj Tibrewal Akash observed and has expressed discontent over the 'high-handed' approach of the Uttar Pradesh Government in illegally demolishing houses, the court laid down the measures which needs to be followed by state authorities for clearing areas in road widening projects.

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The bench comprising of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was hearing the present matter.

In the present case, the court was hearing the suo motu writ petition which is registered in the year 2020 based on a letter complaint sent by Manoj Tibrewal Aakash, whose house was demolished in 2019.

The court in the case noted that while the house was encroaching only to the extent of 3.70 meters into the project road, the actual demolition was between 8 to 10 meters and in excess.

The court observed that the action of demolition was done without giving any proper notice to the occupiers and only through the public announcement of drum-beating.

The court also observed that such conduct of the state authorities was 'completely high-handed and without the authority of law'.