Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Friday
directed the state government and the Centre to file
compliance reports with regard to payment of compensation to
2002 riot victims.
A division bench of Chief Justices S J Mukhopadhaya and
Akil Kureshi also asked both the governments to include in the
report the steps taken for providing employment or pensionary
benefit to those who have left jobs due to riots and crossed
age or super-annuation.
The court asked the report to be submitted by June 17.
The directives were issued by the court while hearing a
PIL by Gagan Sethi, a member of the Special Monitoring Group
appointed by NHRC after the 2002 riots.
Sethi had prayed for quick disbursement of compensation
announced by the Centre to the 2002 riot victims.
The High Court in May last year asked the state
government to disburse Rs 262.44 crore it received from the
Centre as relief package for 2002 post-Godhra riot victims.
Petitioners lawyer Amit Panchal today submitted before
the court that there were many riot affected families who have
not yet received compensation despite the High Court order.
Panchal further submitted that state government had not
complied with the Union Government`s decision of May 2008 to
provide additional benefits to riot victims.
The Union government counsel told the court that the
Centre has already released funds to the state for payment of
compensation.
Following these submissions, the court directed the
respondents (state and union governments) to file "respective
affidavits with regard to payment of compensation and steps if
any, taken for providing employment or pensionary benefit to
those who have left the jobs due to riots and crossed age of
super-annuation".
The court further said pendency of the case should not
stand in the way of the respondents to provide the benefits.
The Central government`s relief package included
compensation to the family of over 1,169 people who died
during the riots and over 2,549 victims who were injured in
the post-Godhra communal violence.
PTI
