Expedite relief for Hashimpura massacre victims: Delhi HC

Court issues directions to Meerut Legal Services Authority

August 15, 2016 02:55 am | Updated 02:55 am IST - Meerut:

The Delhi High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to place on record all available documents about the extra judicial killings in Hashimpura.

The Bench of Justices Geeta Mittal and R.K. Gauba last week also directed the Meerut Legal Services Authority to identify all the victims and expedite the compensation disbursement process under its Victim Compensation Scheme.

Referring to the plea of the intervener in this case, Vrinda Grover, the court directed the State government to produce duty and attendance registers and log books of the case.

The government had responded with an affidavit saying the documents were not available in response to which the court directed the government to file a detailed affidavit “in four weeks explaining the entire matter in terms of dates and steps taken with regard to maintenance, preservation as well as weeding out” of the crucial documents and logbooks and attendance registers.

Probe reports

The court noted that instead of submitting the CB-CID probe report into the massacre, the State government submitted before the court another enquiry report which was conducted in 1994. Justice Geeta Mittal asked the State government to place on record the report of the Crime Branch of the CID. The CB-CID had completed its probe on June, 22, 1989.

Justice Mittal noted three categories of victims including those surviving persons who were abducted and shot, deceased persons identified by witnesses and abducted persons whose bodies were never found and said “...matter of disbursement of compensation requires to be undertaken with expedition...”

Compensation scheme

The Court directed the secretary of the Meerut Legal Services Authority to identify the victims who were given compensation by the State government and who deserve compensation under its Victims Compensation scheme.

“It shall be the responsibility of the secretary, Meerut Legal Services Authority to undertake the exercise of identifying the persons entitled to the disbursement of the compensation and to ensure that the compensation under the victim compensation scheme is actually released to the 43 persons to whom the State has disbursed the compensation as well as any other person who is identified as entitled to compensation,” ruled the court asking the secretary to submit the list in two months.

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