Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered status quo, stopping the demolition drive by the NDMC against alleged encroachers in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri where communal riots broke out on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.
Chief Justice NV Ramana ordered the status quo after senior advocates Dushyant Dave, Kapil Sibal, PV Surendranath and Prashant Bhushan mentioned the matter before him.
Dave said that the demolition drive in riot-hit Jahangirpuri is completely “illegal and no notice was given to anyone.”
“Let the matter be taken up tomorrow,” the CJI said.
Kapil Sibal mentioned the Jahangirpuri’s demolition drive before the Supreme Court as a plea, filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, against the use of bulldozers to raze down the properties of riots-accused in Madhya Pradesh and Gujurat was scheduled to be mentioned for urgent listing before the Chief Justice. The plea seeks a declaration that the properties of the accused cannot be demolished as a punitive measure as such punishment is unknown to criminal law.
“There is no due process and fair trial given before the demolition of houses,” the petitioner stated
The BJP-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Tuesday, scheduled a demolition drive in the Jahangirpuri area on Wednesday and Thursday, asking the Delhi police to provide atleast 400 police personnel to maintain law and order.
NDMC mayor Raja Iqbal Singh said they will follow Supreme Court’s order and take necessary action, ANI reported.
25 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence, including five charged under the National Security Act, which allows detention up to a year without any charge.
