Gujarat HC sends notice to Surat municipal commissioner over bulldozing woman's house
Updated: Nov 7th, 2024
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| Surat Municipal Corporation |
Gujarat High Court has sought a reply from officials of the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) in a case relating to demolition of a woman’s home in Surat’s Vadod without prior notice or intimation.
Sadhana Badgujar, the petitioner, is a mother of a 7-year-old child who cannot speak, walk, or feed himself and has a 96% physical disability.
She lives in Satyanarayannagar in Vadod with her husband and two children, one of whom is severely disabled.
The family purchased plots number 16 and 17 in Vadod and later paid the municipal tax bills, water connection charges, and had an electricity connection.
About a year ago, the woman spent over ₹9 lakh to renovate the property, which has a current value of over ₹30 lakh.
According to the petition, on October 1, 2024, SMC officials, including S D Prajapati, P B Bhoya, Chandresh Patadia, Fenil Mehta, and Mayur Patel, arrived at the woman’s home early in the morning.
They forcibly evicted her and her children from the house, threw their belongings outside, and without any legal notice or prior warning, demolished the entire house using bulldozers. The family was left homeless and was forced to live on the streets.
The petitioner informed the HC that she filed a police complaint and submitted representations to several authorities, including the Surat Collector, the municipal commissioner, the Lokpal, the State Home Minister, and the National Commission for Women (NCW), but did not receive any justice. As a result, she approached the high court.
In her petition to the High Court, the woman has sought —
-The restoration of her house to its original state at the cost of Surat Municipal Corporation.
-Reconnection of electricity and water services.
-Action against the responsible officials within two weeks, including criminal proceedings.
-Compensation of ₹45 lakh from the guilty SMC officials for the harm caused to her family.
It was argued in court that the woman along with her family went through a mental and physical toll due to the action by the civic officials.
Justice Mauna Bhatt issued a notice to the Surat Municipal Commissioner, the executive engineer of the South Udhna Zone S D Prajapati, Deputy Engineer P B Bhoya, Assistant Engineer Chandresh Patadia, and others, seeking their response.
Notably, the Supreme Court recently intervened in a similar case regarding illegal demolitions by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The apex court had ordered all states and Union Territories to follow proper procedures for removing encroachments, especially when widening roads, and specifically prohibited demolishing properties without prior notice or compensation.
The Supreme Court also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to pay ₹25 lakh as compensation to the victim whose house was demolished.
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