New Delhi, Nov. 12 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday laid down the first-ever guidelines against arbitrary demolitions by state authorities, ruling that citizens' voices cannot be "throttled by a threat of destroying their properties" and that such "bulldozer justice" has no place in a society governed by rule of law.
"Justice through bulldozers is unknown to any civilized system of jurisprudence. There is a grave danger that if high-handed and unlawful behaviour is permitted by any wing or officer of the state, demolition of citizens' properties will take place as a selective reprisal for extraneous reasons," said a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud in a detailed order uploaded on Saturday, the eve of j...