Tue Apr 01 08:41:56 UTC 2025: ## Supreme Court Condemns Uttar Pradesh Demolitions, Orders Compensation
**New Delhi, April 1, 2025** – The Supreme Court of India today issued a scathing rebuke of the Uttar Pradesh government and the Prayagraj Development Authority for the demolition of homes in Prayagraj, calling the actions “inhuman” and “illegal.” A bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan deemed the demolitions a violation of due process and the right to shelter.
The court’s decision follows a plea by several residents, including advocate Zulfiqar Haider and professor Ali Ahmed, whose homes were demolished. The petitioners argued that the demolitions, carried out in March 2023, were wrongly attributed to gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, who was killed in a police encounter the same year. The Allahabad High Court had previously dismissed their challenge.
The Supreme Court, noting the demolitions were conducted in a “high-handed manner,” ordered the Prayagraj Development Authority to pay ₹10 lakh in compensation to each affected homeowner within six weeks. The court’s ruling highlights concerns about the rule of law and the right to shelter, stating the actions “shock our conscience.” This is not the first time the Supreme Court has criticized the Uttar Pradesh government for similar actions, previously condemning the demolitions as sending a “shocking and wrong signal.”
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