SC bulldozes bulldozer justice, what about washing machine politics?

But now that the Supreme Court has stepped in, let us hope that the justice will prevail over the bulldozer justice and that the States will come out with suggestions for framing an SOP on demolitions. Houses of accused or even convicts cannot be demolished, without following the proper legal procedure, the Court observed

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has thrived for long as the Bulldozer Baba and even won the last election to the State Legislative Assembly and his BJP held bulldozer rallies to celebrate. Though there was a hue and cry from the victims of the bulldozer (in) justice, the INDIA bloc did not make it an election issue. For the starters, the Yogi government demolished the homes and shops of those who were accused of crimes such as stone pelting or participating in riots. But this practice mainly targeted a particular community or the opposition parties. Those from the ruling party, though accused of worse crimes such as rape and murders, were however spared of this bulldozer justice.

Thus, bulldozers were literally performing a tandav on the properties of people labelled as criminals by the ruling dispensation. But the ultimate action was the demolition of properties that came in the way of infrastructure development in Ayodhya ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Lalla temple with the victims complaining against non-payment of any compensation. This has contributed to the defeat of the BJP candidate in the last Lok Sabha poll, but there was no stopping the bulldozers rolling over properties.

This was one of the worst frauds that were committed on the country’s judiciary and the Constitution as the civic officials became law unto themselves. There is no dispute over acting against any unauthorised construction anywhere. But how do the authorities turn a blind eye to the structures and for ages and then suddenly begin to act with brute force only when someone is allegedly involved in a crime? That too, in a selective manner? The judiciary did not take suo motu notice of this parallel justice! It is only when a petitioner reached the Supreme Court that the judges frowned on demolitions only on the pretext of criminal involvement that too unproved, of some members of the family that owned property.

The bulldozer virus has spread to other BJP-ruled States, too. Let us look at this case where two minors were accused of spitting on a Hindu religious procession at Ujjain in June last year. The administration was quick to demolish the accused persons’ homes on the pretext of shoddy construction. The so-called witnesses in this case turned hostile and told the MP High Court that they did not see anyone spitting on the procession. The police asked them to just sign on some documents without even reading them, the witnesses said, and the arrested youth were released on bail.

Cut to Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh where a Congress leader Shahzad Ali’s huge bungalow was demolished after the police registered a case against him and 150 others for allegedly pelting stones at the police station. Even the cars parked in the premises were damaged in the action. One does not know whether the crowd led by Ali turned violent or some miscreants entered the demonstration and indulged in violence. Strangely enough, as the Free Press Journal reported, the police personnel staged a protest against the stone pelters. Why? Couldn’t they have arrested the accused and sent them to jail? The police after a long chase arrested Ali in connection with the riot and some other cases against him. That’s fine and let the law take its own course. But how the State CM is empowered to deliver instant bulldozer justice? In a more recent case, the house of rathole miner Vaqeel Hasan’s house in Delhi was demolished which the BJP MP termed as unjust. Hasan, who was part of the team that rescued workers stuck in an Uttarakhand road tunnel collapse, was however promised a house under the PM Awas Yojana. How many of the unauthorised demolition frenzy got such justice? Nobody talks of any compensation for such displaced families.

Obviously, questions would arise on the kind of treatment the BJP governments are giving to the convicts and accused who either support or are part of the ruling dispensation. For instance, the bulldozer justice has not moved in the cases of murder convict Baba Ram Rahim who has enjoyed parole after parole under the BJP rule ahead of key elections, the three BJP workers who admittedly gangraped a Banaras Hindu University student and were allowed to campaign for the party in MP and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who was accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers and against whom the police already filed a 1,000-page chargesheet.

But now that the Supreme Court has stepped in, let us hope that the justice will prevail over the bulldozer justice and that the States will come out with suggestions for framing an SOP on demolitions. Houses of accused or even convicts cannot be demolished, without following the proper legal procedure, the Court observed.

Amid all this, there is another system of instant justice that the BJP has mastered, again without caring for the established legal process. It’s called washing machine politics. Politicians accused of huge scams get protection once they join either the BJP or its allies. The Maharashtra government functions on the strength of such washing machine politics. Cases filed by the caged parrots are either closed or delayed. This happens after the investigation agencies spend a lot of time, resources and the taxpayers’ money with no accountability. I do not mean that the agencies should not proceed with investigations, but the point that I am making is about their abrupt closure after the accused changed political affiliations.

The judiciary must question such closures and make the officials answerable. Only then the launch and closure of politically motivated cases would be under check. Otherwise, it becomes a pastime exercise for the entire machinery particularly at a time the judiciary is stressed with piling and pending cases.

Speaking of misuse of the justice system, it is also important for the top court to look at the losses suffered by people with either wringed justice or the false cases with no iota evidence. While the value of loss of time cannot be quantified, the courts need to do something to mitigate the suffering of the people languishing in jail for months and years and getting freed on bail due to lack of evidence. Mere strictures against erring officials are not enough, a proper accountability must be fixed against the officials, judiciary included. Why should people in a democracy suffer due to wrong judgements? There has to be a proper SOP on bail as a rule and jail as an exception.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)