The Supreme Court has questioned the ‘bulldozer justice’ being practiced in some states in utter disregard of the rule of law. Coming down heavily on the ongoing practice of demolishing houses of persons accused by the authorities of criminal acts, the Supreme Court questioned the concept, asking: “How can anybody’s house be demolished only because he is an accused?”“Even if he is convict, it can’t be done without following the procedure as prescribed by law,” a bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Vishwanathan said on pleas against the demolitions on suspects’ premises with bulldozers.
The apex court said it will lay down pan-India guidelines to address the concerns on undue demolitions.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the petitionersalong with senior advocate C.U. Singh, urged the court to make a statement that “bulldozer justice will not be meted out anywhere in the country.”
The apex court said no immovable property can be demolished solely on the ground that the owner or occupant of such a property is involved in a criminal offence.
The apex court’s observations are welcome. We hope its guidelines on the issue will save the nation from falling into a jungle raj.
Chowdhry Nisar Ahmed,
Noorullah pet, Ambur (T.N)
Need for More Judicial Operational Reforms
Currently the Indian Judicial system is plagued with important issues like shortage of judges, case backlog, low public trust, lack of transparency, negative impact on justice quality, etc. due to delays in administration of justice. India has a low judge-to-population ratio; in 2024, the ratio was 20 judges per million people, which is one of the lowest in the world. With almost more than 11 lakh practising lawyers, India has the second largest legal community in the world. Unfortunately, the state of legal affairs is woeful. As of May 2022, approximately over 4.6 crore cases are pending.As per NCRB 2020 report, there were as many as 488511 prison inmates, out of whom 76% are undertrials. Court cases turn into prolonged battles.
Justice is merely an afterthought. Commoners are the losers. More cases are filed every day than the judiciary can handle. Ordinary cases, not linked with high profile persons or of media interest, take years and years to conclude.Till then, the aggrieved party relieves the agony of the wrong done to it and the perpetrators walk free.The cost of hiring advocates is hefty.The judicial process too is expensive,so a vast number of people prefer injustice rather than going to a court.
Moreover, the darkside of it is boosting criminal activity with no fear in recent years. Take either Kolkata doctor brutal rape case or Manipur women stripping case.We need reforms and an efficient system which pertains to more social equilibrium free from political gamut. Some reforms have been introduced to address these issues, including case management systems, e-courts, and settlement mechanisms like Lok Adalats but still need to introduce more effective reforms such as refining fast track courts functioning, time limit justice to undertrials, reducing burden of extrajudicial work, judicial auditing, etc.
Dr. Majeed Mulla
Via Email
‘Unconcerned World and Inactive Muslims’
Read signed editorial titled “Unconcerned World and Inactive Muslims” by respected Mr. Ejaz Ahmed Aslam, Editor-in-Chief, vide Issue No.22 dated 7th September, 2024.
The editorial has exposed the hypocrisy of the Muslim nations who are in deep slumber. These Muslim nations should not be afraid of anybody except Allah, if they are followers of Islam in the real sense of the term.
I salute your courage for scolding the Muslim nations editorially without mincing the words.
Farooq AbdulgafarBawani
Rajkot, Gujarat, India