The court has banned authorities from arbitrarily razing down homes but victims say the ruling changes nothing for them.

The tactic, in which state governments raze the homes and businesses of people as acts of retribution, has been on the rise in recent years.

Highlighting the importance of public officials being held accountable, the Supreme Court laid down guidelines to curb illegal demolition of the homes of persons accused in criminal cases. Here are the details.

India's Supreme Court released a ruling on Wednesday finding that the country's authorities cannot use demolition of properties as punishment for those accused or convicted of crimes. It set

The Supreme Court on Wednesday laid down pan-India guidelines to prevent arbitrary demolitions of properties in the country. The top court said it was not a happy sight to see women, children and ailing persons dragged to the streets overnight.

The apex court said that no property of the accused should be demolished without a prior show cause notice and the affected must be given at least 15 days to respond.

India’s Supreme Court banned the use of so-called “bulldozer justice,” the government demolition of homes by state officials to punish those accused of crimes that activists said was a tactic predominantly used by Hindu nationalist authorities against the minority Muslim community.