Licence raj echo | Mint

Demolition justice is a form of vigilante action, with no sanction in law, but continues apace in some states under the nose of authorities. Late on Tuesday, as reported, a hotel of suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mishri Chand Gupta, accused recently of murder, was demolished by explosives in the Madhya Pradesh city of Sagar under the supervision of the district collector and deputy inspector general of police. Like bulldozer razings seen in Uttar Pradesh, another BJP-ruled state, the building might have flouted norms. Yet, while illegal construction is rampant in India, only some cases get singled out for local spectacles that involve a hard blow dealt to people who face other allegations. These are typically unproven charges assessed to have political potential in the accused being held up as paying for those actions. This approach may even be popular in some settings but fails the rule-of-law test. To pass it, the presumed innocence of someone until proven guilty must prevail, and guilt should attract a predefined penalty that’s proportionate. As with the licence raj, when businesses were found guilty of one thing but punished for another, this farcical game must end.