On safeguards against 'bulldozer justice', why Allahabad HC delivered a split verdict

📌 Summary:

• Context: On July 20, a division bench of the Allahabad HC (Justices Atul Sreedharan and Siddharth Nandan) delivered a split verdict revisiting the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling on "bulldozer justice"; the matter goes to a third bench
• Point of agreement: The state cannot demolish a house to punish a family for an alleged offence; Justice Sreedharan noted "selective outrage results in selective injustice"
• Point of split: Whether the HC can go beyond the SC's directions and create additional safeguards against state action
• Facts: Petition by Faimuddeen and parents after cousin Aafan Khan was booked under the BNS, POCSO Act, IT Act and UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act; the family faced a municipal notice, a sealed lodge and a sealed saw mill — argued as "punishment by association"; the State said proceedings (planning-law violation, Forest Act, alleged encroachment on Irrigation Dept land) were independent of the criminal case
• SC's 2024 ruling (In Re: Directions in the Matter of Demolition of Structures): governments cannot demolish property as punishment for an alleged crime, since guilt is decided by courts, not the executive; a house "embodies collective hopes" and the right to shelter is part of Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty)
• Legal framework: The UP Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973 (Section 27) permits demolition of illegal structures only after notice (15-40 days to respond) and a hearing; the SC added a further safeguard barring demolition for 15 days after a final order
• Significance: The case tests how far courts can institutionalise procedural safeguards to prevent extra-legal/punitive demolitions ("bulldozer justice")

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 Polity — separation of powers, judicial safeguards, Article 21 (right to shelter), rule of law and due process.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• SC 2024 ruling: In Re: Directions in the Matter of Demolition of Structures
• Right to shelter read into Article 21
• UP Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973 (Section 27) governs demolition of unauthorised structures
• SC mandated no demolition for 15 days after a final order

🔑 Key Term: "Bulldozer justice" — the practice of demolishing the property of persons accused of crimes as a form of extra-judicial punishment, held unconstitutional as it bypasses due process and usurps the judiciary's role.