On 10th March (Tuesday), the Delhi High Court ordered the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) not to demolish the residences of those accused of killing 26-year-old Dalit man Tarun Kumar in Uttam Nagar over a water balloon during Holi festivities until the next hearing. According to Justice Amit Bansal, the civic authorities should refrain from coercive action while the court reviews the petitions submitted by the mothers of the accused.
“Nothing should happen between today and tomorrow. Nothing should happen between 4 PM now and tomorrow, 10:30 am,” he pronounced. The development transpired after the respondents asked the bench to consider the case in greater detail on Wednesday. However, the judge has not issued a written order to this effect.
The mothers of the accused in the Uttam Nagar case, Shahnaz and Jarina, have filed petitions against the MCD action. Jarina is the mother of co-accused Imran, also known as Banti, and Shahnaz is the mother of Sohel and Ayan, who were questioned by the police in this case.
According to the plea, the Supreme Court has unequivocally ruled that demolitions cannot be carried out without prior warning, an opportunity for a hearing, and compliance with legislative procedures, which include giving the aggrieved party at least 15 days’ notice.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi conducted a demolition drive in relation to the murder. Civic authorities demolished parts of a home connected to the primary accused four days after the gruesome event on 4th March. According to the MCD, it was constructed on a drain and asserted that it was not required to provide advance notification in an anti-encroachment campaign, reported The Indian Express.
According to insiders, several unlawful buildings and illegally occupied portions of a three-story house were dismantled, which belonged to perpetrators, Umardeen (49) and his son Muzaffar (25), reported The Times of India. The plea aimed to shield the homes of other accused from any such action. 16 people, including two minors, have been taken into custody in the matter thus far.
Islamists assaulted Tarun to death after a small argument that started when a child threw a water balloon, which accidentally splashed a woman from the accused’s community.
