The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will lay down pan-India guidelines on demolition of properties and any religious structure in the middle of a road, be it a ‘dargah’ or a temple, “has to go” because public interest is paramount.
Observing that merely because somebody is an accused or even a convict cannot be a ground for demolition of property, the apex court reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas which have alleged that properties, including of those accused of crime, were being demolished in several states.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said unauthorised construction made by any person, irrespective of his religion or belief, has to be removed.
The bench said its September 17 order, which had said there will be no demolition of properties till October 1 without its permission, will continue till it decides the matter.
“Whatever we are laying down, we are a secular country. We are laying it down for all the citizens, for all the institutions, not for any particular community,” the bench said.
“On the first day we had pointed out, if there is any religious structure on the middle of a road, may it be a ‘dargah’ or some temple, it has to go because public safety and public interest is paramount,” it said.
The bench also observed that there cannot be a different law for a particular religion.
“We are going to make it clear that merely because somebody is an accused, or even somebody is a convict, can’t be a ground for demolition,” it said.
The apex court made it clear that it will not protect any encroachment on public places, roads, footpaths, government lands, forests, water bodies and the likes.
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