Executive can't be judge, jury and executioner: CJI Gavai on SC ruling against 'bulldozer justice'

New Delhi: New Delhi: The executive cannot become judge, jury and executioner, Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai said earlier this week while highlighting the Supreme Court’s ruling against retributive demolition of private properties by government authorities in India.

“More recently, the Court in Re: Directions in the matter of demolition of structures, the Court examined the decisions of the state authorities to demolish homes and properties of an accused, as a punishment even before they were convicted by a court of law. Here, the Court held that such arbitrary demolitions, which bypass legal processes, violate the rule of law and the fundamental right to shelter under Article 21. The executive cannot become judge, jury, and executioner all at once,” CJI Gavai said.

He added that the top court ruling reaffirmed that constitutional guarantees must not only protect civil liberties but also uphold the dignity, security and material well-being of every individual, especially the vulnerable.

Justice Gavai, who headed the bench that delivered the ruling last year, was speaking at the Milan Court of Appeal on June 18 on the “Role of Constitution in Delivering Socio-Economic Justice in a Country: Reflections from 75 Years of Indian Constitution”.

The event was attended by Giuseppe Ondei, President of the Milan Court of Appeal; Fabio Roia, President of the Milan Court of First Instance; other judges of the district; Antonino La Lumia, President of the Milan Bar Association; Roberta Clerici, Chair of the Board of the Italian Chamber of International Lawyers; Angelo Mambriani, President of the Corporate Section of the Milan First Instance Court and other members of the Chamber of International Lawyers, academics and legal experts.