Authorities must adhere to Supreme Court guidelines before demolishing unauthorized constructions, ensuring due process and fairness.

ORDER

This common order shall govern disposal of the aforesaid writ petitions, as the question of law and facts involved herein, are similar.

2. The challenge in these petitions is made to the impugned notices whereby the petitioners have been directed to remove the unauthorized construction raised by them, failing which coercive action shall be taken against them.

3. Counsel appearing for the petitioners has drawn attention of this Court to the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Directions in the Matter of Demolition of Structures, In re , (2025) 5 SCC 1 wherein certain directions/guidelines have been issued. It is submitted that in the present case, the said guidelines are not followed by the authorities and as far as the guidelines issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in paragraph 94 thereof, they are required to be followed by the authorities. The authorities are required to give personal hearing to the petitioner before taking any extreme steps for demolition of the property and thereafter pass a reasoned order.

4. The operative part of the judgment i.e. Directions in the Matter of Demolition of Structures, In re , (2025) 5 SCC 1 , particularly Para 94 thereof, reads as under :

"94. At the outset, we clarify that these directions will not be applicable if there is an unauthorised structure in any public place such as road, street, footpath, abutting railway line or any river body or water bodies and also to cases where there is an order for demolition made by a court of law.

A. Notice

94.1. No demolition should be carried out without a prior show-cause notice returnable either in accordance with the time provided by the local municipal laws or within 15 days' time from the date of service of such notice, whichever is later.

94.2. The notice shall be served upon the owner/occupier by a registered post A.D. Additionally, the notice shall also be affixed conspicuously on the outer portion of the structure in question.

94.3. The time of 15 days, stated herein above, shall start from the date of receipt of the said notice.

94.4. To prevent any allegation of backdating, we direct that as soon as the show-cause notice is duly served, intimation thereof shall be sent to the office of Collector/District Magistrate of the district digitally by email and an auto generated reply acknowledging receipt of the mail should also be issued from the office of the Collector/District Magistrate. The Collector/DM shall designate a Nodal Officer and also assign an email address and communicate the same to all the municipal and other authorities in charge of building regulations and demolition within one month from today.

94.5. The notice shall contain the details regarding: (a) The nature of the unauthorised construction. (b) The details of the specific violation and the grounds of demolition. (c) A list of documents that the noticee is required to furnish along with his reply. (d) The notice should also specify the date on which the personal hearing is fixed and the designated authority before whom the hearing will take place.

94.6. Every municipal/local authority shall assign a designated digital portal, within 3 months from today wherein details regarding service/pasting of the notice, the reply, the show-cause notice and the order passed thereon would be available.

B. Personal hearing

94.7. The designated authority shall give an opportunity of personal hearing to the person concerned.

94.8. The minutes of such a hearing shall also be recorded.

C. Final order

94.9. Upon hearing, the designated authority shall pass a final order.

94.10. The final order shall contain: (a) The contentions of the noticee, and if the designated authority disagrees with the same, the reasons thereof. (b