Bulldozer demolitions akin to bulldozing Constitution; will destroy rule of law: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan

Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Saturday took strong exception to the recent trend of "bulldozer justice" in many States and said that demolishing the properties of people suspected or accused of a crime is equivalent to running a bulldozer over the Constitution..The practice of State authorities using bulldozers to demolish houses of accused persons and then defending the action by calling the structures illegal, is "disturbing and depressing", he said."According to me, using a bulldozer to demolish a property is like running a bulldozer over the constitution. It is a negation of the very concept of rule of law and if not checked, would destroy the very edifice of our justice delivery system," Justice Bhuyan said.He highlighted the impact such actions have on the lives of people."In that house, all right, we assume that this person may be an accused or he may be a convict, but his mother stays there, his sister stays there, his wife stays there, his children stay there. What is their fault? If you demolish that house, where will they go? It is right taking away the shelter over their heads, I would add, why only them? What about the accused? What about the convict? Just because somebody is an accused in an offense or a convict, that doesn't mean that his house should be demolished.".We assume that a person may be an accused or a convict, but his mother stays there, sister stays there, wife stays there, children stay there. What is their fault? If you demolish that house, where will they go?Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.Justice Bhuyan was speaking at 13th Justice PN Bhagwati International Moot Court Competition on Human Rights at Bharati Vidyapeeth New Law College Pune. In his address, Justice Bhuyan called for reforms in the judiciary, saying that it was not enough to claim that Supreme Court of India is the most powerful court of the world."But we also need to introspect on if we have gone wrong somewhere down the line. Only if we do that then only there can be course correction and I strongly believe there is enough room for course correction in Indian judiciary.".Justice Bhuyan went on to acknowledge that even top court's decisions may need a re-look. Many recent judgments may need a critical examination, he said."As a sitting Supreme Court judge, I have no hesitation in saying Supreme Court is supreme because it is the final court ... Had there been any other court above the Supreme Court like privy council of yesteryears.. many of the judgments of the Supreme Court perhaps would have to suffer a re-look," the top court judge added..I strongly believe there is enough room for course correction in Indian judiciary.Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.In this context, Justice Bhuyan impressed upon the law students to develop a critical mindset."Why we are saying this is because as students of law, we have to adopt a critical and questioning mindset and not to lap up anything and everything that comes, including judgments of Supreme court. We need to critically analyse them. Of course criticise them on solid ground and not impugn motive," he said..[Read Live Coverage]