Justice BR Gavai of the Supreme Court on Wednesday used a couplet by well-known Hindi poet Pradeep to emphasise that everyone wants a home of their own and does not want this goal to ever be dashed.
Justice Gavai’s 95-page ruling, which established criteria for property demolition across India, began with a few lines of the poet in Devanagari script.
“‘Apna ghar ho, apna aangan ho, is khawab mein har koi jeeta hai; Insaan ke dil ki ye chahat hai ki ek ghar ka sapna kabhi naa choote’ (To have one’s own home, one’s own courtyard – this dream lives in every heart. It’s a longing that never fades, to never lose the dream of a home),” the introduction to the judgement read.
“This is how the importance of shelter has been described by the famous Hindi poet ’Pradeep’,” the bench said. On behalf of the bench, which also included Justice KV Viswanathan, Justice Gavai wrote the decision.
The apex court said every person and family dreams of having a shelter. “A house is an embodiment of the collective hopes of a family or individuals’ stability and security,” it said.
The bench further said, “An important question as to whether the executive should be permitted to take away the shelter of a family or families as a measure for infliction of penalty on a person who is accused in a crime under our constitutional scheme or not arises for consideration”.
It stated that one aspect of Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution is the right to shelter.
The Supreme Court bench established nationwide norms, ruling that no property should be demolished without first providing a show-cause notice and giving the impacted parties 15 days to reply.
The Supreme Court ruled against “bulldozer justice,” holding that the Executive cannot act as a judge, convict an accused person, and destroy his home.
A bench consisting of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan declared, “If the Executive, arbitrarily, demolishes a citizen’s house only because they are accused of a crime, then it acts contrary to the principles of rule of law.”
According to the Supreme Court, it would be “totally unconstitutional” to demolish people’s homes only because they are charged or even convicted. When delivering the verdict, Justice Gavai stated that the Executive cannot take the role of the Judiciary in carrying out its fundamental duties.
