THE LAW ISN'T FOR BREAKING

Astern judicial veto from the Punjab & Haryana High Court has put a question mark on the legality of punitive demolitions of homes and other structures by bulldozers.

- Anilesh S. Mahajan

The controversial action-pioneered as a hardline law and order measure by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and taken up with enthusiasm by a series of his compeers-was most recently on view in Nuh, the riot-torn district in south Haryana. On August 7, a suo motu action by the division bench of Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan put the brakes on bulldozers set rolling by the Manohar Lal Khattar regime against those seen as having participated in the violence. But by then, the deed was done-over four days, the local agencies had already demolished about 350 shanties and 50 structures, including homes, shops and commercial spaces on the pretext of clearing encroachments on government land. Those targeted were primarily Muslim.

As the bulldozers started to move, Haryana home minister and BJP leader Anil Vij had came out and said it was part of the "ilaaj" as the government investigated the communal violence. The court took note of this while making its comments: "The issue also arises whether the buildings belonging to a particular community are being brought down under the guise of a law and order problem...and an exercise of ethnic cleansing is being conducted by the state."