'Will Order Reconstruction At Your Cost' : Supreme Court Criticises UP Govt For Demolishing Houses Of Lawyer, Professor & 3 Others

The Supreme Court on Wednesday criticized the Uttar Pradesh government for demolishing the houses of a lawyer, a professor, and three others in Prayagraj.

A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice N Kotiswar Singh expressed strong disapproval, stating that such actions send a “shocking and wrong signal.”

Justice Oka added, “there is something called as Article 21.”

Justice Oka also pointed out the Supreme Court's recent judgment which has laid down the procedure to be followed before demolition. “There is now a judgment of the co-ordinate bench on bulldozer justice also.”

Justice Oka sharply criticized the State, remarking that the court will now order the state to reconstruct the demolished structures. "Now we will order reconstruction at your cost, that is the only way to do this", Justice Oka said.

The petitioners—advocate Zulfiqar Haider, professor Ali Ahmed, two widows, and another individual—approached the Court after the Allahabad High Court dismissed their plea against the demolition.

They alleged that the authorities issued demolition notices late on a Saturday night and demolished their homes the next day, leaving them no chance to challenge the action. They have also argued that they were lawful lessees of the land and had applied to convert their leasehold rights into freehold property.

The petitioners' counsel argued that the state had wrongly linked their land to gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, who was killed in 2023.

Attorney General R Venkataramani said that the petitioners had enough time to respond to the notices. However, Justice Oka questioned the manner in which the notice was served. The bench pointed out inconsistencies in the State's claim on the manner of sending notice.

The Attorney General suggested that the matter should be remanded to the High Court for consideration, but the Supreme Court refused, stating that sending it back would only cause unnecessary delays.

The petitioners have contended that they were not trespassers but lessees who had applied for conversion of their leasehold interest into freehold. A demolition notice was issued on March 1, 2021, served on March 6, 2021, and the demolition was carried out on March 7, 2021, without giving them a reasonable opportunity to challenge it before the appellate authority under Section 27(2) of the UP Urban Planning and Development Act. The petitioners include a lawyer and a professor, whose entire library was demolished. They have contended that the Allahabad High Court dismissed their plea based on a letter dated September 15, 2020, without giving them an opportunity to contest it.

The Allahabad High Court noted that the disputed demolition concerned a Nazul Plot in Prayagraj, which was leased in 1906. The lease had expired in 1996, and applications for freehold conversion were rejected in 2015 and 2019. The State maintained that the land had been earmarked for public use, and the petitioners had no legal rights since their transactions lacked the District Collector's approval. The High Court dismissed the petitions, concluding that the structures were unauthorized.

The Supreme Court has now taken a firm stance against the State's action, and kept the matter on March 21, 2025 for further hearing.

Senior Advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari along with Advocate Rooh-e-hina Dua (AOR), Advocate Atif Suhrawardy, Advocate Syed Mehdi Imam (AOR) represented the petitioners.

Case no. – Zulfiquar Haider & Anr. v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors.

Case Title – Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No. 6466/2021