The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Prayagraj Development Authority and the Uttar Pradesh government to compensate homeowners with Rs 10 lakh apiece within six weeks, calling the 2021 demolitions “high handed.”
The ruling follows the top court’s March 24 ruling that the UP government had destroyed several Prayagraj homes in 2021 within 24 hours of informing the residents. According to a bench made up of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, they will be permitted to rebuild at their own expense.
This offends our morals. Due process of law and the right to shelter are two concepts that the bench had mentioned.
According to the petitioners’ attorney, the state government destroyed the homes in error, claiming that the property belonged to gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, who was murdered in a police confrontation in 2023.
The appellants claim that their homes were demolished on March 7, 2021, without providing them with a fair chance to contest the demolition notice before the appellate authority in accordance with Section 27(2) of the UP Urban Planning and Development Act, which was served to them on March 6, 2021.
Advocate Zulfiqar Haider, professor Ali Ahmed, and other people whose homes were destroyed were pleading with the supreme court.
Their appeal contesting the demolition was denied by the Allahabad High Court.
