Supreme Court has said that it cannot pass an ‘omnibus’ order to stop all demolitions of illegal properties belonging to the accused of recent communal clashes in the country. The court was hearing a petition from Jamiat-Ulema-I-Hind, which asked the apex court to order the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and other states to stop such demolition drives over unauthorized constructions that belonged to the accused involved in violent protests.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the Muslim outfit, insisted that such demolitions were a serious matter and that the top court must restrict the civic bodies from carrying out such actions. He also said that India is a country governed by the rule of law and cannot permit these acts. He further said that the authorities were taking advantage of the municipal laws to demolish properties of the accused persons, and are in fact targeting specific communities.

However, a bench of Justices B R Gavai and P S Narasimha refused to issue an omnibus order since it will only prevent the authorities from taking action by law. “What omnibus directions can we issue? Nobody can dispute that the rule of law has to be followed. But can we pass an omnibus order? If we pass such an omnibus order, will we not prevent the authorities from taking action by the law.”