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

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.

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.

Muslims in India are largely welcoming a ruling this week from the country's Supreme Court declaring authorities must not demolish any property simply because its owner has been accused of a crime.

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

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (left) and former chief justice of India, Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, are seen at a function in Uttar Pradesh on Feb. 16. ‘Bulldozer justice’ in India was the brainchild of Yogi Adityanath. (Photo: AFP)

Cow slaughter is punished by seven years in jail in Madhya Pradesh, and the burden of proof is on the accused. Slaughter of the cow, which some Hindu people worship as a deity, and its progeny is banned in most of India as is the consumption of their meat.

India's Supreme Court has said that authorities cannot demolish homes merely because a person has been accused of a crime and has laid down strict guidelines for any such action.