AP High Court wants to know under which provision compensation was granted.
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Hyderabad: A division bench of Andhra Pradesh High Court comprising of Chief Justice, Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice G. Rohini ordered state Government to file a counter affidavit that under which rule and provision of law it has allotted compensation to the acquitted Muslim youths in Mecca Masjid bomb blast conspiracy case.
The division bench passed this order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by S. Venkatesh Goud, who earlier rose to fame by filing criminal complaints against Akabruddin Owaisi in January for his alleged hate speeches.
Akbaruddin Owaisi handing check to the victim
Venkatesh Goud, in his PIL before court, alleged that in the initial investigation of the blast some Muslim youths were arrested and shown as accused; SIT which was investigating the blast even charge sheeted them after ‘thorough investigation’. He alleged that after new agency (CBI) took up the case, those Muslim youths got bail and later acquitted, new set of accused (right wing Hindutva activists) were arrested and case is still going on with NIA probing the matter. Mr. Venkatesh alleged that state government, without waiting for the closure of the case and final decision of the court, allotted compensation to the acquitted Muslim youths.
Division bench of chief justice has inquired from the state government that under which provision of law or legal precedent that compensation was allotted to the acquitted Muslim youths, and whether it was the sole discretionary act of the state government or the compensation was ordered by any court of law.
High court has given two weeks period to the Government to file counter affidavit on the matter, and till the litigation is settled, court given restrain order to the Government from disbursing any fresh compensation to acquitted Muslim youths. There are some acquitted Muslim youths whose compensation was delayed because of the some other pending cases against them.
During Mecca Masjid blasts investigation by infamous SIT more than 100 Muslim youths were detained illegally, out of them 30 youths were booked under concocted terror conspiracy case, later all were acquitted by the court.
Many of those Muslim youths were tortured in police illegal custody detention centers, after hue and cry from Muslim community State Minorities Commission formed one member commission of Advocate Ravichander to look into the allegation of torture, in its final report (which was never been released, but leaked in the media) commission submitted that Muslim youths were tortured with third degree in the custody and recommended compensation for those youths, and action against the errant cops.
Later when all the arrested Muslim youths were acquitted, National Minorities Commission on the representation of human rights organizations recommended to the state Govt. compensation for all those acquitted Muslim youths, for their rehabilitation.
A year after he took the reins of the state present chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy apologized to the Muslim community in the state assembly after MIM created ruckus in the legislature.
Minority affairs minister Ahmedullah allotting compensation check to terror acquitted Muslim youth
A year later in Jan 2012 Government issued a G.O. and ordered compensation to all those affected Muslim youths on the recommendation of the National Minorities Commission, Government in its G.O. called it a ‘confidence building measure’.
But that ‘confidence building measure’ turned out to be a halfhearted affair, where only 16 Muslim youths out of 30 arrested in terror conspiracy case were allotted compensation of Rs.3 lakh, and those who spent nearly 7 days in police torture were given mere Rs.20,000.
State congress Government since the beginning of the compensation drama tried to keep it low profile or restrict to a particular community it wanted to target, to avoid any controversy from the right wing hard liners from other community. This was made clear by the absence of chief minister and other five state ministers who were scheduled to allot the compensation in the program, in turn in a low key affair minority’s minister and MIM leaders were brought in for distribution of compensation.
Speaking with TwoCircles.net, Advocate Ravichander whose report on police torture and brutality on arrested Muslim youths became the base for the NCM recommendation for compensation said there are many Supreme Court orders for reparation on human rights violations, “branding some one terrorist and using third degree torture is nothing less than a custodial death,” he said.
Govt compensation banner
“In the floods when people get killed, dose Govt. need provision of law or court order to allot them compensation”, explains Adv. Ravichander that government doesn’t required any provision of law or wait for court order to grant compensation to the victims, it’s the duty of the Govt.
According to him it’s too early to start perceiving the ramification of any future high court order on this PIL, but he believes that compensation granted to those terror acquittals was fair, and High Court will not revoke the Governments measure, even if it does in rare possibility it won’t affect the youths who got the compensation.
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