The Nagpur Municipal Corporation on Tuesday offered an unconditional apology to the Bombay High Court for defying the Supreme Court’s ruling on demolitions by bulldozing allegedly illegal portions of the homes of two persons accused of being involved in the communal violence in the city in March, Live Law reported.

In its affidavit filed before the High Court, the municipal corporation said that it was unaware of the Supreme Court’s November ruling as it had not received the guidelines from the Maharashtra government, PTI reported.

The municipal corporation apologised to the High Court for partially bulldozing the home of the mother of Minorities Democratic Party leader Fahim Khan, who is the main person accused of being involved in the March 17 violence.

There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for the demolition of property as a punitive measure. However, the practice has become commonplace in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation and its officials would not intentionally disobey the orders of the High Court, the Supreme Court or lower courts, the affidavit contended.

In November, the Supreme Court held as illegal the practice of demolishing properties of persons accused of crimes as a punitive measure. It said that processes must be followed before removing allegedly illegal encroachments.

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation commissioner told the court on Tuesday that he found that the town planning department was also not aware of the Supreme Court’s directive, PTI reported.

The division bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and Vrushali Joshi granted the state government two weeks to file a response in the matter. The matter is being heard at the Nagpur bench of the High Court.

On March 24, the High Court stayed the demolition of the properties of the two persons.

The direction came hours after the municipal authorities bulldozed Khan’s home on the morning of March 24. The court’s intervention halted the demolition of allegedly illegal portions of the residence of another person accused in the matter, Yusuf Sheikh.

Khan and others have been charged with sedition and spreading misinformation on social media in connection with the clashes.

The violence on March 17 broke out hours after Hindutva groups held a protest in Nagpur demanding that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb located in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar be removed.

The bench had on March 24 criticised the municipal authorities for their “high-handedness” and said the demolitions appeared to be prima facie in breach of a 2022 judgement by the Supreme Court related to the bulldozing of structures.

The High Court had said at the time that it would look into the legality of the demolition notices that the municipal authorities had issued to the petitioners and their subsequent actions after the municipal commissioner and the executive engineer submit their responses.

The court had expressed concern about the property owners not having been given the chance to present their case before the demolitions.