Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday convened a meeting to discuss the matter and options before the State government like filing an appeal in the Supreme Court, a day after the A.P. High Court quashed the GO awarding compensation to 70 Muslim youths who were falsely implicated by the police in the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blasts case,
“The Chief Minister will discuss the issue with the Advocate General and take a decision on filing an appeal in the Supreme Court,” sources in the CMO said.
Minority Welfare Minister Mohammed Ahmadullah told PTI,
“We respect the High Court orders. The Chief Minister held a meeting on the matter today. The Chief Minister has said that a final decision will be taken after studying the judgment, and as per law.”
Senior Congress leader and former State Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir said, “The government has not done anything illegal. It tried to heal the wounds of the youngsters. In fact, compensation should be paid in all such cases across the country irrespective of the religion the victims come from.”
He did not agree that the government failed to strongly defend its move. “The court verdict doesn’t mean the government has failed. It still has the options of moving a review petition or approaching the Supreme Court,” he said.
The Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee (CLMC) also demanded that the government file a review petition on the High Court judgement.
In a press release issued here, CLMC general secretary Lateef Mohammed Khan alleged that the government did not represent the matter seriously and had not submitted the documents properly in the High Court. — PTI/IANS
