India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday outlawed a practice widely called bulldozer justice, in which state governments raze the homes and businesses of people — most often Muslims — as rapid retribution after communal conflicts or acts of political dissent.
The demolitions have steadily increased for years in India, and are especially common in states controlled by the Hindu-nationalist party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s. They are carried out even before the law can take its course after accusations of a crime.
The authorities often cite illegal construction as justification for razing the businesses or homes of political opponents or members of minority communities. In its ruling, the court said that meting out such punishment without due process “reminds one of a lawless state of affairs, where ‘might was right.’”
“The executive cannot become a judge and decide that a person accused is guilty and, therefore, punish him” by demolishing his properties, the judgment said.
In one of the most prominent recent cases, officials last August in the northern state of Haryana knocked down the properties of residents of Nuh and at least 11 other districts. The demolitions, which disproportionately targeted Muslims, came after clashes between Hindus and Muslims that were set off by a religious procession undertaken by a hard-line Hindu group.
While human rights advocates hailed the court’s decision as a landmark, it is unclear whether it will actually halt the demolitions. The justices intervened only years after the practice had become normalized.
The bulldozer has become a political symbol in India, especially in states governed by Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. In Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state, the chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, has been nicknamed Bulldozer Baba and has routinely invoked the bulldozer to appeal to voters.
Still, rights advocates called the ruling a step toward combating the discrimination that has become commonplace against Muslims in recent years in India.
“We hope this judgment will mark a turning point to deter campaigns of hate, harassment and violence against minorities in India,” Agnès Callamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, said in a statement. “Never again should such deeply unjust and unlawful actions be repeated in the country.”
Miloon Kothari, a former U.N. special rapporteur on the right to housing, said that the demolitions infringed on a range of basic rights beyond the right to shelter, depriving people of livelihoods, education and health services.
“People are set back by a whole generation due to demolitions,” said Mr. Kothari, the founder of the Housing and Land Rights Network, a rights group based in New Delhi.
“Any guidelines on demolitions is welcome,” Mr. Kothari said. “But it remains to be seen if they will be implemented.”
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