UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Both demolition and rehabilitation duties of the govt., says SC
Q1. In the Supreme Court's demolition guidelines, the direction that erring officials shall bear 'restitution' means which one of the following?
- A. Reconstruction of the demolished structure at the personal cost of the responsible officials, together with payment of damages to the affected party
- B. Restoration of the demolished structure by the municipal body out of its own budget, the cost being recovered later from the owner of the property
- C. Refund to the owner of the penalty and demolition charges already recovered by the authority, along with interest for the period of retention
- D. Return of the salvaged construction material to the owner, together with compensation assessed at its depreciated market value
Q2. Under the Supreme Court's pan-India demolition guidelines of November 2024, the time within which a show-cause notice preceding demolition is returnable is governed by which one of the following?
- A. The period provided by the local municipal law, or 15 days from the date of service of the notice, whichever is later
- B. The period provided by the local municipal law, or 15 days from the date of issue of the notice, whichever is earlier
- C. A uniform period of 30 days reckoned from the affixation of the notice on the structure, in all States and Union Territories
- D. The period provided by the State town planning law, or 7 days from the date of the personal hearing, whichever is earlier
Q3. Consider the following statements about the Supreme Court's interventions against 'bulldozer justice' in 2024:
1. The interim order restraining demolitions across the country without the Court's leave was passed in exercise of the Court's power under Article 142 of the Constitution.
2. In the order of November 2024 concerning a 2019 demolition in Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh, the Court awarded Rs 10 lakh as interim compensation to the affected householder.
3. In that Maharajganj matter the Court noted that the encroachment involved was only 3.7 square metres, and yet 123 structures had been demolished in the area.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The interim order restraining demolitions across the country without the Court's leave was passed in exercise of the Court's power under Article 142 of the Constitution.
- In the order of November 2024 concerning a 2019 demolition in Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh, the Court awarded Rs 10 lakh as interim compensation to the affected householder.
- In that Maharajganj matter the Court noted that the encroachment involved was only 3.7 square metres, and yet 123 structures had been demolished in the area.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q4. As explained by the Supreme Court in November 2024, the demolition of the house of a person merely accused of a crime offends the constitutional scheme principally because it amounts to which one of the following?
- A. The executive assuming the adjudicatory function of pronouncing guilt and inflicting a penalty upon a citizen
- B. The judiciary encroaching upon the domain of municipal bodies in the enforcement of town planning and building regulations
- C. The State legislature abdicating an essential legislative function by delegating it to municipal commissioners without guidance
- D. The Union executive exercising a power that the State List reserves to State Governments in respect of local government
Q5. Consider the following statements distinguishing statutory demolition action from punitive demolition in India:
1. The Supreme Court's December 2024 judgment permitted a builder to hand over possession of a building before obtaining a completion or occupation certificate, provided the utility connections had already been sanctioned.
2. In the Prayagraj demolitions examined by the Supreme Court in 2025, the notices had been issued under Section 27(2) of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, and the structures were pulled down about a day after the notices were served.
3. The procedural safeguards laid down in the pan-India guidelines of November 2024 do not govern a demolition that is carried out pursuant to an order of a court.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Supreme Court's December 2024 judgment permitted a builder to hand over possession of a building before obtaining a completion or occupation certificate, provided the utility connections had already been sanctioned.
- In the Prayagraj demolitions examined by the Supreme Court in 2025, the notices had been issued under Section 27(2) of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, and the structures were pulled down about a day after the notices were served.
- The procedural safeguards laid down in the pan-India guidelines of November 2024 do not govern a demolition that is carried out pursuant to an order of a court.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q6. The demolition of the five residential premises at Prayagraj, which the Supreme Court in 2025 said 'shocks our conscience', was purportedly carried out under which one of the following statutory provisions?
- A. Section 27(2) of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973
- B. Section 27(2) of the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1959
- C. Section 5 of the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986
- D. Section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
Q7. In the demolition notices issued to persons accused in the Bahraich violence, which the Supreme Court was moved against in October 2024, how many days were the noticees given to respond?
- A. Three days
- B. Seven days
- C. Fifteen days
- D. Thirty days
Q8. In the removal of the Madrasi Camp settlement at Jangpura in 2025, which two agencies were directed to carry out the rehabilitation of the eligible families?
- A. The Delhi Development Authority and the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board
- B. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Delhi Jal Board
- C. The National Capital Region Planning Board and the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation
- D. The Public Works Department, Delhi and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee
Q9. With reference to the requirements that the Supreme Court has read into demolition action as flowing from the principles of natural justice, consider the following:
1. Service of the show-cause notice by registered post together with affixation of a copy on the structure concerned.
2. An opportunity of personal hearing to the noticee, the notice itself specifying the nature of the alleged unauthorised construction and the grounds of the proposed demolition.
3. Passing of a speaking order dealing with the objections raised, where the validity of a notice for removal of encroachment in a road-widening exercise is contested.
4. Prior approval of the Supreme Court in every case of removal of an encroachment, including encroachments on footpaths and railway lines.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Service of the show-cause notice by registered post together with affixation of a copy on the structure concerned.
- An opportunity of personal hearing to the noticee, the notice itself specifying the nature of the alleged unauthorised construction and the grounds of the proposed demolition.
- Passing of a speaking order dealing with the objections raised, where the validity of a notice for removal of encroachment in a road-widening exercise is contested.
- Prior approval of the Supreme Court in every case of removal of an encroachment, including encroachments on footpaths and railway lines.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 3 and 4
Q10. The Supreme Court's position that demolition and rehabilitation are 'twin, inseparable obligations' of the State is best understood to mean which one of the following?
- A. Provision for resettling the displaced must form part of the same decision that authorises removal, and cannot be a discretionary step considered after the structures come down
- B. Every displaced person in a city must be resettled before any unauthorised structure anywhere in that city may be removed by the authorities concerned
- C. The cost of resettlement may be recovered from the occupants of the demolished structures as a condition for allotment of alternative accommodation to them
- D. The courts, and not the executive, must determine the entitlement of each displaced family to alternative accommodation before any removal is ordered