Hit by communal violence just days before, Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on 20 April saw seven bulldozers roll into the neighbourhood accompanied by heavy police deployments as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led North Delhi Municipal Corporation razed parts of shops, carts, tin sheds, homes, and the gate of a mosque.
The demolition, which started around 10 am, went on for over an hour till 12:15 pm despite the Supreme Court’s directions at 11 am that the status quo be maintained.
And taking notice of the disregard of its order, an apex court bench of Justices L N Rao and B R Gavai heard a clutch of petitions on 21 April, where it extended its status quo order for two more weeks and said that it would “take a serious view of all demolitions that took place after the court's decision was communicated to the mayor.”