New Delhi – The Supreme Court has ordered the Prayagraj Development Authority to pay ₹10 lakhs to each owner of homes that were wrongfully demolished. The court described the demolitions as “inhuman and illegal” and said they shocked their conscience.
Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan emphasized that everyone has the right to a home and that proper legal procedures must be followed. They stated that homes should not be taken away without fair warning or a chance to defend oneself.
The demolitions happened under a law for urban planning, but the court found that the authority did not make genuine efforts to provide proper notice to homeowners. A notice was posted on the homes, but homeowners were not given a real opportunity to respond or appeal before their houses were destroyed.
The justices pointed out that the purpose of giving notice is to allow people a chance to explain their situation. They criticized how the authority simply posted notices instead of trying multiple times to reach the homeowners in person.
During the court hearing, a lawyer for the homeowners argued that they needed the compensation because they could not afford to rebuild their homes. The Attorney General argued against giving any money, saying that the demolitions were done legally and that the families had other places to live, but the court rejected this idea, stating that losing a home is a serious matter.
The court noted that previous demolitions in Prayagraj had sent a “wrong signal” about how the government handles such situations. The homes were demolished under the belief that they belonged to gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, who was killed in a police action earlier in 2023.
The homeowners had initially asked the Allahabad High Court for help, which denied their request before the case reached the Supreme Court.
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