Opposition parties on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict declaring “bulldozer justice” as unconstitutional, describing the ruling as a “tight slap” to the Bharatiya Janata Party government.

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief said on social media: “Hopefully this decision will end the jungle raj in Uttar Pradesh”, PTI reported.

The Samajwadi Party said that “bulldozer action” was “unjust, unfair, unconstitutional and illegal BJP governments should stop doing injustice in the name of law and justice”. In a social media post, the party said that punitive demolitions had rendered whole families homeless and made scapegoats of innocent citizens.

“This decision is a tight slap on the face of incompetent, useless, highly corrupt people who run the government/power by considering themselves as god’s incarnation,” the party said. “Hopefully, those responsible must have felt and heard the sound of the slap.”

Earlier in the day, the court said that state authorities demolish the properties of citizens merely because they are accused or convicted of crimes. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan also issued guidelines to curb instances of “bulldozer justice”.

There are that allow for demolishing property as a punitive measure. Nevertheless, the practice has become commonplace, mainly in states ruled by the BJP – particularly Uttar...