Nuh Deputy Commissioner tells Punjab and Haryana High Court no religious discrimination in demolition drive

The Deputy Commissioner of Nuh district in Haryana has denied religious discrimination and 'pick and choose' policy while carrying out demolition drive in the district..In an affidavit filed on August 17, the Deputy Commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata said that the demolition operation in Nuh, an area with a predominantly Muslim population, impacted a total of 354 individuals of which 71 were Hindus and 283 were Muslims.Further, out of the 38 shops demolished, 55 percent belonged to Hindus and 45 percent to minorities, it was submitted.The government's actions were not influenced by a selective approach based on caste, creed or religion, the affidavit underscored.The reply was filed in response to a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) petition currently pending before the High Court on the demolitions in Nuh that were carried out after communal clashes broke out in the area.It was alleged in various news reports that the demolition drive targeted Muslim community alone.The High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident on August 7 and had also expressed concern as to whether buildings owned by a specific community are being demolished, potentially indicating an ethnic cleansing effort by the State.While staying the demolition drive on August 7, the High Court had remarked that buildings in Nuh and Gurugram were being demolished without the issuance of proper demolition orders and notices.It had, therefore, directed the State of Haryana to file an affidavit detailing the number of buildings that were demolished within the past two weeks in both Nuh and Gurugram and whether any notices were issued before such demolitions..In its affidavit, the Deputy Commissioner underscored that when collecting data on encroachments, the State government does not consider caste, creed or religion and treats all encroachers equally and follow the appropriate legal procedures.Specifically with respect to the demolitions in question, the reply said that,"The demolitions in question were routine measures taken by independent local authorities against the owners/occupiers or illegal structures and that too after following the due procedure of law.".The affidavit said that demolitions were carried out in 38 locations by the District Town and Country Planner, Nuh and that due procedure was followed while carrying out the demolition drive."It is pertinent to mention here that the Department of Town & Country Planning had detected unauthorised constructions in the form of shops, masjids, foundations of structures at DPCs level," the affidavit said.Show cause notice was issued regarding the same on February 25, 2021 and personal hearing was also afforded on March 3, 2021, it was contended.However, the encroachers neither appeared for the hearing nor did they file their written responses, it was submitted..On August 9, a plea was filed in the Supreme Court seeking action against calls made for the boycott and alienation of Muslims following the violence in Nuh.In light of same, the top court had opined that, the calls to boycott the Muslim community after the recent outbreak of violence at Nuh, Haryana was unacceptable.