On 13 November 2024, the apex court of India delivered a landmark judgment in In Re: Directions in the matter of demolition of structures addressing the important injustice being caused to individuals through government sanctioned punitive bulldozer demolitions. In its ruling, the Supreme Court of India highlighted the violation of fundamental rights to shelter, life and liberty, and to fair trial of the aggrieved parties, and breach of principles of natural justice caused due to arbitrary actions taken by the Government avoiding the due process of law. The Supreme Court has issued guidelines for issuing orders of demolition of any structure and held that non-compliance of these guidelines will amount to contempt of court.

Justice through bulldozing is unknown to any civilized society. From January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023 around 740,000 people lost their homes as a result of State-driven punitive and arbitrary demolition of homes. The data shows that only in the year 2023, 515,752 people were evicted and 107,449 homes were demolished across India.

The executive has been demolishing not only illegal and unauthorized construction, but also residential houses of individuals who are accused of either committing a crime against minorities or the house is demolished due to religious biases.

Across states in India, governments have ‘bulldozed’ two fundamental principles of justice. Firstly, the presumption of innocence which requires punishing an accused only after due process. Secondly, that there can be no guilt by association—no collective punishment. By demolishing homes of those accused of crimes and sometimes even of their family members, governments have shown a complete disregard for the Constitution’s letter and spirit, its guarantees of fundamental freedoms, and protection against state arbitrariness.

Bulldozer demolitions undermine rule of law and due process

Due process and procedural fairness must be followed when taking any State action. The punitive demolition of houses amounts to the State taking arbitrary action.

One such incident was the demolition of the house of a Muslim activist, Afreen Fatima, alleging that her father is a ‘mastermind’ of protest over anti-Islam remarks. In another incident, a video of a man urinating on a tribal worker went viral, and police have taken immediate action against the man and registered a case under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. Police also demolished the man’s house within a few days after the video.

It is the primary function of the judiciary to determine the liability of an individual and their consequent punishment under prevailing law. The executive’s action to demolish the house of an accused amounts to breach of separation of powers which is the basic structure of the Indian Constitution.

In the above-mentioned incidents, neither any notice has been served to these individuals nor was sufficient time given to approach the judiciary against the demolition order issued by the government officers. The executive has not followed the due process of law.

Collective punishment and breach of fundamental right to shelter

The bench of Justice AS Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, on March 31, 2025, condemned the action of Uttar Pradesh Government for razing homes without due process and directed the Government to pay Rs. 1,000,000 to each aggrieved homeowner. The bench remarked that “There is a viral video where a small girl can be seen outside a demolished house, crying and running with her school bag. Everyone is very disturbed by such visuals”, calling the action ‘inhuman’.

Such incidents reflect that bulldozer actions are carried out as ‘collective punishment’. In addition, such punishment violates the fundamental right to shelter guaranteed under the Constitution of India.

It is reassuring that the Supreme Court of India has been vocal about the issues and takes immediate action for those at the receiving end of bulldozer injustice. The guidelines issued by the Supreme Court of India require that a written notice must be served to the owner-occupier at least 15 days before demolition; the notice must state the nature of violations, required documents, hearing details, and authority involved; the Collector and District Magistrate must be informed, who shall ensure that no ‘back-dating’ of notice takes place; municipal local authority has to establish a digital portal which would host details about service, posting of notice, reply, show-cause notice, and the order passed; a personal hearing of owner-occupier is required before a reasoned final order is passed; and an inspection, witness signatures, and a video-graphed demolition report are mandatory before action.

Various State Governments tend to provide ‘instant justice through bulldozer’, however, the judiciary has been standing up for the most vulnerable. It’s time that the executive and political class did so too. It must be ensured by them that due process is followed, and individuals’ fundamental rights are protected.