‘Everyone Is Disturbed…’: SC Refers To Video Of Girl Running With Books During UP Demolition Hearing
During the hearing, the court took note of a viral video of an eight-year-old girl who was seen clutching her books and running as a bulldozer razed shanties in UP’s Ambedkar Nagar.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government and the Prayagraj Development Authority for 2021 demolition drive and termed it “illegal" and “insensitive".
During the hearing, the court took note of a viral video of an eight-year-old girl who was seen clutching her books and running as a bulldozer razed shanties in UP’s Ambedkar Nagar.
related stories
- SC Invokes Article 142, Awards Rs 15 Lakh To Girl Who Lost Mother, Suffered 50% Disability In 2010 Accident
- Supreme Court Raps UP Govt Over Demolitions In Prayagraj, Orders Rs 10L Compensation In Each Case
- 'Unconstitutional, Inhuman': Revisiting Two Bulldozer Actions Which Brought UP Govt On The Back Foot
- Muslim Girl's Prayers, Mughal-Era Bricks, A Lion Seeking Blessings: Historic Tales Of A Temple In UP
“There is a viral video where a small girl can be seen outside a demolished house. Everyone is very disturbed by such visuals," Justice Ujjal Bhuyan remarked during the hearing, as reported by Live Law.
The video, which surfaced last week on X, showed a girl child clutching books and running away from a shanty during a demolition. As per the news agency PTI, the video is from an anti-encroachment drive in Jalalpur, Ambedkar Nagar. The police has stated that the demolition was carried out to remove encroachments from village land based on an ejection order of the Jalalpur tehsildar court.
The bench of Justice AS Oka and Justice Bhuyan, who slammed the government and authorities for the demolition of the houses of a lawyer, a professor and three others in Prayagraj in 2021, expressed concern over the manner in which demolitions were being conducted in Uttar Pradesh.
The apex court also asked the authorities to pay a fixed compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each homeowner who approached the court in such cases within six weeks.
The bench further said that such cases shock the conscience, adding that the residential premises of the appellants have been high-handedly demolished.
“We will record this whole thing as illegal and we will say that as far as rights in the land are concerned, we are not offering any comment," Justice Oka said, adding, “And fix compensation of 10 lakhs in each case. That is the only way to do this. So that this authority will always remember to follow due process."
Earlier, the top court had slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over the demolition action in Prayagraj without following the due legal procedure and said it sent a “shocking and wrong signal".
The petitioners’ counsel had said the state government wrongly demolished the houses thinking the land belonged to gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, who was killed in 2023 in a police encounter.
The top court was hearing a plea by advocate Zulfiqar Haider, Professor Ali Ahmed and others whose houses were demolished.
The petitioners had reportedly been served a notice on March 6, 2021, with respect to certain constructions at Lukerganj in Prayagraj district.
- Location :
- First Published: