Won't Demolish House Without Following Due Process Of Law, MP Govt Tells HC On Plea Of Wife Of Khargone Riots Accused

Noting the submissions made by the Petitioner and the State, Justice V.K. Shukla noted-

Learned Additional Advocate General for the respondents/State submits that no action shall be taken against the petitioner for demolition of the house without following due process of law.

Recording the State's assurance, the Court disposed of the writ petition.

Petitioner's case :

The case of the Petitioner was that she was a resident of Khargaone District and that when communal mayhem struck the streets of Khargone, she was at home, while her husband was at Indore. A couple of days after the riots, she learnt that her husband was arrested by the police when he was on his way back to Khargone from Indore, alleging that he was involved in the riots.

After the arrest of her husband, the authorities came to her residence with bulldozers. She submitted before the Court that despite knowing the fact that she was the legal owner of the property and that her name was not mentioned in any of the criminal cases related to the riot, the authorities were adamant on demolishing her property.

The Petitioner pleaded before the Court that 'the vindictive action' by the administration against her property would take a huge toll of loss on her. She further submitted that she, along with her 5 children, were living in fear of exclusion and suffering mental harassment due to the actions of the authorities concerned.

Accordingly, she was seeking directions from the Court to restrain the authorities to act illegally by demolishing her house without following the due process of law and further victimizing her and her family by punishing them for a crime they did not commit.

It may be noted that recently, the Supreme Court ordered status quo on the North Municipal Delhi Corporation's demolition action against alleged encroachments in the Jahangriprui area, few days after communal violence during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. The Top Court also issued notice to the Centre, States of UP, MP and Gujarat on a PIL seeking to direct authorities to refrain from resorting to demolishing the houses of accused as a form of punishment.