Bulldozer justice: To those whose homes were razed, Supreme Court order brings hope, but little else

“In a prison barrack, I saw on TV the house that I built over decades being demolished. You can imagine what I would have gone through. It took me decades to build the house, but it took a few minutes to demolish it,” he said.

After being accused in eight cases related to the violence, Javed — also a businessman — was released on bail on March 16 this year. While he was still in jail, his family struggled to find another home, with even relatives showing reluctance to give them shelter.

“When my daughter went to the house of a close relative the day our house was demolished, the relatives expressed fear that if she stayed there, their house may be demolished too,” said Javed.

Soon after the demolition, Javed approached the Allahabad High Court hoping to be compensated. The case is still pending, but he hopes the SC ruling will help hold those responsible for the demolition to account.

“I have hope that one day my family will get justice from a court. I have full faith in the courts of our country,” he said.

In Udaipur, 61-year-old Rashid Khan, whose case was among those which led to the SC’s directions, also hopes for compensation. On August 16, a school boy allegedly fatally stabbed his classmate, triggering communal tensions in the city.

Soon, the district administration rushed to raze the schoolboy’s home.

Except, the home they tore down belonged to Khan, given on rent to the boy’s family. According to Khan, it was done without giving appropriate notice – his tenants allegedly saw a circular from the Udaipur Municipal Corporation (UMC) notice at about 7 am on August 17. The notice was dated August 16.

Then, only an hour and a half later, the bulldozers rolled in. Khan accused the local administration of injustice and sought Rs 25 lakh and land as compensation. While he welcomes SC’s ruling, Khan said the question about compensation remains unanswered.

“What SC has done now is good but we haven’t heard about any compensation or whether we will even get one. The SC should ensure that the people whose homes were demolished are given compensation,” Khan said.

In 2022, juice shop owner Ganesh Kumar Gupta (56) watched in helpless horror as bulldozers demolished his shop after communal violence broke out in North West Delhi’s Jahangirpuri. The bulldozers, seven in all, rolled in and razed parts of several structures despite the Supreme Court’s directions that status quo be maintained.

It took two heart attacks and roughly Rs 15 lakh worth of renovations to get his life back on track. “I kept shouting that I have all the papers, but no one listened,” he said.

Although Gupta welcomed the Supreme Court’s directions Wednesday, there was a tinge of sadness for his lost shop. “I wish this order had come earlier. Maybe my shop could have been saved,” he said.

Among petitioners who approached the Supreme Court against “bulldozer justice” is Mohammad Hussain, a labourer from Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district. Hussain’s home was partially demolished this June after his son was arrested for allegedly slaughtering a cow and dumping its carcass at a temple.

Like Javed, Hussain, a loader who makes Rs 5,000-7,000 a month, said his relatives have been afraid of helping his family of seven since his son’s arrest.

“My son is still in jail. We live in a cramped home of our relatives. No one wants to take us in as everyone is scared that their home will be demolished. This verdict gives us hope,” he said. “I haven’t got any compensation in this case. All I want is a home for my family.”