SC judgment on house demolitions reaffirmed citizens' rights: CJI Gavai

Chief Justice of India B R Gavai has said he was glad that the Supreme Court's ruling against the demolition of houses of accused persons without following due procedure of law upheld the rights of citizens.

He was part of the SC bench that last year slammed instant bulldozer justice' and laid down pan-India guidelines on demolition of properties, saying the executive could become a judge and declare an accused as guilty and demolish his house.

Speaking at a felicitation function organised by the Goa High Court Bar Association in Panaji on Saturday, the CJI also explained the reasoning behind his landmark judgment on the creamy layer in the reserved category.

Pointing out to the speeches by earlier speakers during the felicitation, which referred to his historic judgments, CJI Gavai said, I am really happy that we could do something as a custodian of the Constitution for protecting the rights of citizens whose houses were demolished without following the procedures of law.

He said that the buildings or houses of the people who had not even been tried by the law and who had been accused of certain charges were being demolished without following the due procedure of law.

The CJI said the SC bench held that the houses did not belong solely to an accused person, yet the other family members residing there were made to suffer despite no fault of their own.

Even if a person is convicted, the CJI said, he is still entitled to the rule of law.

The rule of law is paramount in the country. I am happy that we could lay down the guidelines. We could prohibit the Executive not to become a judge, he said.

CJI Gavai said the Indian Constitution recognises the separation of powers of the executive, judiciary and legislature.

And if the executive is permitted to be the judge, then we will be hitting at the very concept of separation of power, he said.

Referring to the SC judgment on sub-classification of scheduled castes, CJI Gavai said that he had been widely criticised for the judgment by the people belonging to his own community.

I always believed that I have to write my judgment not by demands or desires of the people, but as per the law that I understand and as per my own conscience, he said.

CJI Gavai said he had observed that when a first-generation individual from a reserved category becomes an IAS officer, the benefit often extends to subsequent generations, with the second and even third generation also entering the IAS through the same category.

The question which I had put to myself was that the son or daughter of a person who gets the best education in a school in Mumbai or in Delhi can he be equated with the son or daughter of mason or agricultural labourer in a village and taking education in a Zilla Parishad or gram panchayat school, he said.

He said Article 14 of the Constitution does not mean equality among unequals.

What is contemplated is that unequal treatment to unequals so that they become equals, he said.

Therefore, by putting a child of a labourer residing in a village and a child of chief secretary residing in Mumbai and studying in the best of the school, my view is that it hits at the very best concept of equality, he added.