Two cheers for the top court’s ‘bulldozer’ judgment
Last week, the Supreme Court of India handed down a judgment dealing with what has come to be known as “bulldozer raj”. For the last three years, in many parts of India, municipal authorities had taken to demolishing people’s homes if they were accused of an offence, especially in the wake of communal tensions or large-scale protests. These demolitions were often, although not always, communally targeted, and in their wake, politicians were seen to publicly celebrate and endorse this form of state-sponsored “vigilante justice”. In its judgment, the Court came down heavily on this practice, noting that it violated the basic principles of the rule of law, the separation of powers, and turned the executive into judge, jury, and executioner. The Court declared that no person’s home could be de...