By IANS,
Gandhinagar : The Gujarat High Court has directed the central and state governments to file affidavits and submit action taken reports on the damage caused to religious structures during the 2002 Gujarat communal riots.
The bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice Akil Kureshi questioned central government counsel P.S. Champaneri and state government counsel P.K. Jani on the issue Monday.
The bench wanted to know whether the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) report on the subject was placed before parliament and the state assembly.
According to the survey conducted by the NHRC, 535 religious structures were damaged during the riots.
The bench was hearing a public interest litigation that claimed the government needed to compensate for the damage caused to the religious structures.
The petition claimed that the government failed to discharge its duty to protect life and property, and hence should compensate for these.