A little wrong is right for a bigger cause: BJP on bulldozer politics

The opposition leaders and rights activists may be crying foul over razing of properties of mafias and also those accused of taking part in rioting, stone pelting, rape without following the due process of law. But Prashant Singh Atal, the convenor of the ruling BJP’s Legal Cell in Uttar Pradesh and Chief Standing Counsel of the State Government, tells DH’s Sanjay Pandey that a little transgression of law is permissible if the cause is bigger.

Singh, co-chairman of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh, also says bulldozers are a symbol of state power and essential to instill fear in the minds of the criminals.

Do you think the indiscriminate use of bulldozers by the UP officials to raze the houses, shops and other properties is legal?

Section 14 of the Gangster Act allows a district magistrate to seal the movable or immovable properties if there is reason to believe that the said properties have been acquired by a gangster as commission for an offence triable under this law. Besides, in the cases where the accused has been absconding and has not been presenting himself before the court or the police despite repeated summons, the authorities can attach the properties of the accused.

Are sealing and razing properties without giving prior notice the same in the eye of the law?

Properties are being razed only when authorities are finding that they were built on government lands or have been acquired or constructed with money earned through corrupt means and that too. The demolition is being done following the due process of law.

The opposition parties and rights activists say that bulldozers are being used indiscriminately and that too against the members of the minority community mostly. What is your view?

This allegation is baseless. In Uttar Pradesh, the government led by Yogi Adityanath does not differentiate between criminals on the basis of their religion. The law is the same for every person. Bulldozers are essential to instil fear in the minds of the criminals, mafia elements and terrorists. It helps control crime. The people of the state gave their approval to the demolition of the properties of the criminals during the recently held assembly polls. The people of the state realised that the law and order situation improved as the criminals feared the bulldozers. That is why they renewed their faith in the BJP and gave Yogi Adityanath a mandate to lead the state government for another five years.

But recently the UP government had to issue directives to the officials not to misuse the bulldozers after reports of demolition of the houses and shops of poor people. Was that not admission that bulldozers were being used without following the due process of law?

A little transgression of law is acceptable if the cause is bigger. One should not look at such things from a narrow perspective. We should realise that the action is meant to improve law and order and control crime. The state government has taken care to ensure that the properties of the poor people are not demolished. But it has a policy of zero tolerance towards the criminals.

The BJP chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have also been using bulldozers to raze homes and shops of the alleged rioters. Has Yogi Adityanath set a wrong precedent?

Not at all. Yogi Adityanath has rather proved that even hardened criminals can be tamed if one has the will to act. The bulldozers are symbolic of the state’s power to act against the criminals, mafias and terrorists.

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