After the Madhya Pradesh authorities started to use bulldozers for razing the houses of accused in Ram Navami Riots, the Islamic clerics body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court seeking for a direction to the State authorities to not resort to “precipitative actions” against accused without following due process of law.
The petition looks forward to a declaration that the residential or commercial properties of an accused should not be demolished as a “punitive measure” reason that under criminal law no such rule exists. The petition filed was under Article 32 of the Constitution also mentions that State Ministers and police authorities should not make public statement of someone being a criminal , when the charges were not confirmed by court.
The petition states that the CM and Home minister along with many other legislators have made statements advocating such acts which has threatened the minority groups with destruction of their homes and commercial properties in case of riots. “.
The petition has been filed in the backdrop of the widely publicised bulldozing of houses of people who were allegedly involved in the stone pelting episode that took place during the Ram Navami processions. States of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have witnessed the sameactions.
The point of debate is that such measures “undermine the criminal justice system of our country, including the important role of the courts”.
The legal process as per the system involves the pre-trial and trial stage, which now has been hindered by these acts of the state, therefore, immediate action is needed to prevent such incidents from repeating. The court is requested to stop the situation from escalating any further while ensuring that such nasty steps are not taken.
It has been highlighted that if the properties are razed and people are illegally tarnished then the system looks flawed. It mentions that punishment should not be inflicted without giving fair chance to the other person.
The way , things are been handled is violating the persons right to fair trial,thus acting against the legal maxim – ‘audi alteram partem’ – which forms an integral part of our legal system.
When we fasten guilt on someone without investigation, we promote the feeling of hatred as the alleged person does not get audience to be heard.
The petition also seeks training programme for officials so that they know how to handle such cases and riots cases sensibly and sensitively.