Citizens' Accountability LedgerWho owned the mess? 25 years, every party, on the record

Case 71 · Rights and dissent

'Bulldozer justice'. Punishment by demolition

Practice 2022 to 2024. SC ruling Nov 2024.

Ruled unconstitutional by SC

640 days since Nobody has been held to account.

Human cost Est
Homes and shops of the merely accused, often Muslim, often poor, flattened without a trial
Financial cost Est
SC later ordered ₹60 lakh restitution for six wrongly-demolished Prayagraj families

What happened

Several BJP-run states demolished the homes of people merely accused of crimes or of joining protests, staging the bulldozer as instant justice.

Claim against record

What the government said

States said they demolished only illegal structures under municipal law, not as punishment.

What the record shows

Ruled unconstitutional by SC

For years the practice ran as a spectacle of power, punishing whole families before any court had ruled. Only in November 2024 did the Supreme Court declare punitive demolitions unconstitutional, the executive cannot become a judge, and make officials personally liable. Accountability came from the bench, never from the governments that drove the bulldozer.

What accountability should have looked like

Due process for every demolition, notice, hearing and appeal, and personal liability for officials who bulldoze homes as punishment.

Ministers and office-holders responsible

Naming who held the portfolio is a matter of public record. It is not by itself a finding of personal responsibility for any death or any rupee.

Sources

T1 primary record · T2 reporting · T3 partisan

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Cite or export this case

Citizens' Accountability Ledger, "'Bulldozer justice'. Punishment by demolition" (Practice 2022 to 2024. SC ruling Nov 2024.), case-43. https://whoisresponsible.xyz/case/case-43/

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