Supreme Court’s 15-day pause on demolitions: In 2022, another bench had declined to stay demolitions

“You are bringing to our notice what happened some time back, and your apprehension is what will happen… we have passed orders in one case, you still think something will happen,” a bench headed by Justice Nageswara Rao had said on April 21, 2022. The bench was hearing the case concerning the Jahangirpuri demolitions in which it had ordered a status quo but had refused to pass a larger stay order.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal had asked the court for a stay on demolitions through bulldozers, but the bench had made it clear that the status quo order was only for the Jahangirpuri issue. The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, questioning the legality of unlawful demolitions using bulldozers. These are the same batch of pleas that are being heard now.

Incidentally, while Justice Rao has since retired, the other judge on the bench then, Justice B R Gavai, is now heading the bench that stayed demolition drives through bulldozers on Tuesday till October 31.

“Till next date, there should be a stay on demolitions without leave of the court,” the bench headed by Justice Gavai said.

In the April 2022 hearing, the bench while hearing the case had asked why there were so many lawyers present in the courtroom. To this, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave had replied that “citizens have fear”.

However, Justice Rao said that one petition was enough for the court to take notice of the issue. The court then issued notices to the Centre, and the governments of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat where demolition drives had taken place.

The observations were made after it was brought to the court’s notice that demolition in the Jahangirpuri area had taken place even after the Supreme Court’s status quo order a day earlier was conveyed to the mayor.

The court had said that it would take a “serious view of the matter if it was found as correct”.