Bhubaneswar, June 25 -- Expressing deep concern over the bulldozing of a community hall by an officer of tehsildar rank, the Orissa High Court ordered Rs 10 lakh compensation to the petitioners observing that "in a system governed by law, force must follow reason, not precede it. Where the reverse occurs, the legitimacy of State action begins to erode, and with it, the credibility of institutions tasked with upholding the rule of law".
"The facts of this case echo a growing and troubling pattern, commonly referred to as 'bulldozer justice', where executive power, backed by machinery rather than reason, supplants legal process. The use of demolition as a tool of enforcement, absent procedural compliance and judicial finality, transforms wha...