New Delhi, April 1 The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to a lawyer, a professor, and three others in Prayagraj, whose houses were demolished by the Uttar Pradesh authorities without following due process of law.
"These cases shock our conscience. There is something called the right to shelter and something called due process," remarked a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan as it ordered the Prayagraj Development Authority to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the appellants.
The apex court said that the authorities must remember that the right to shelter is an integral part of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The Justice Oka-led Bench took strong exception to the manner in which demolition notices were served on the appellants.
"This affixing business must be stopped," said the top court, questioning why notices were not served by registered post, when the UP Planning Act also provides an option to dispatch the notice through registered post.
The Justice Oka-led Bench added that the law requires genuine efforts to serve in person before resorting to affixing of notice.
"It cannot be that the person entrusted with the job of serving notice goes to the house and affixes it after finding that on that day the person concerned is not available. It is obvious that repeated efforts have to be made to make personal service," the apex court said.
It decided to order compensation of Rs 10 lakh to every appellant so that the Prayagraj Development Authority will always remember to follow due process. It asked the civic authority to strictly adhere to the Supreme Court judgment laying down pan-India directives governing the demolition of structures.
In its judgment passed in November last year, the top court had issued a slew of directions to allay the fears in the minds of the citizens with regard to the arbitrary exercise of power by the municipal officials in cases of "bulldozer/demolition justice".
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