NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday told the Maharashtra government to trace all the victims of 1992-93 Mumbai riots, to pay them compensation as it noted that there was failure on the part of the State to protect the life of its citizens.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath said affected persons have a right to seek compensation from the state government as one of the root causes of their suffering was its failure of to maintain law and order.
"The violence witnessed by Mumbai in December 1992 and January 1993 adversely affected the right of the residents of the affected areas to lead dignified and meaningful life. 900 persons died and more than 2000 persons were injured. The houses, places of business and properties of the citizens were destroyed. These are all violations of their rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India", the court noted.
The directions came on a writ petition filed by Shakeel Ahmed in 2001 seeking implementation of the recommendations of the Justice Sri Krishna Committee formed by the Maharashtra government to probe into the riots.
Justice Oka, who authored the judgement on behalf of the bench, told the state government to make all efforts to trace the legal heirs of the 108 missing persons to pay them compensation of Rs 2 lakhs with interest at the rate of 9% per annum from January 1999.
The court also directed the state government to revive dormant cases to trace the absconding accused.
It directed the state government to provide within one month details of 97 cases on dormant files to the Registrar General of the Bombay High Court, that should issue necessary communication to the concerned courts in which the cases are pending to take necessary steps to trace the accused.
The bench also set up a committee headed by Member Secretary of the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority (MSLSA) to monitor the implementation of its directions.
"The State Government shall appoint a Revenue Officer, not below the rank of Deputy Collector, and a Police Officer, not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police, who shall be the other two members of the Committee, it added.
The bench also ordered the committee to monitor the efforts of the state government to trace other victims who were entitled to compensation.
The victims identified hereafter shall also be paid the compensation with interest at the rate of 9% per annum from 8th January 1994 i.e. from the expiry of the period of six months from the date of the first government resolution, till actual payment, the bench said.
The top court said the state government should comply with the requirement of submitting necessary details to the committee within a period of two months from today. The entire exercise of payment of compensation and/or interest shall be completed by the State Government within a period of nine months from today, the bench ordered.
