By IANS,
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Monday asked the central and Haryana governments what steps they were taking to recover the losses they suffered in the course of the 11-day long agitation of the Jats last month to protest the arrests of the community’s members allegedly involved in Mirchpur village attack on Dalits.
The apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly was told that the combined loss suffered by the central and Haryana governments amounted to Rs.33.45 crore.
The Railways told the court that the agitation, which led to the disruption and diversion of trains on the Delhi-Ferozpur route, caused a loss of Rs.33 crore, whereas Haryana assesed the losses suffered by it due to the road blocade at Rs.45 lakh.
The rail and road blocade was called by 12 “khap panchayats” or community panchayats of the Jats to protest the arrest of 98 people from the community for their alleged involvement in the attack on a Dalit locality in Mirchpur village, about 300 km from Chandigarh, in Hisar district April 21 last year.
A 70-year-old man and his 18-year-old physically-challenged daughter were killed when the rioters torched their house.
The matter will come up for hearing March 7.