Observing that “most churches get funds from foreign governments”, the Supreme Court said its primary concern was to ensure financial relief to the families of people killed in the Kandhamal riots of 2008 in Odisha rather than help rebuild the churches destroyed in the religious violence.
The Supreme Court has been monitoring the relief and rehabilitation measures for victims since 2008 on the basis of a petition filed by the State’s Archbishop Raphael Cheenath.
The Court’s observation came after a submission by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, counsel for the victims, who argued that the Supreme Court should also direct the State government to provide funds to help rebuild the churches and religious structures that were “razed to the ground” during the violence.
In his response, Justice H.L. Dattu said, “You get a lot of money for churches. You can build them. Most of the churches do get funds from foreign governments. We first want to give these poor people [victims] who died some money.” The court cautioned that the State should not bankrupt itself in doling out the compensation.
“We should understand the economy of the State government. By passing orders, we should not make the State government bankrupt,” said Justice Dattu, who heads a three-judge Bench also comprising Justices R.K. Agrawal and Arun Mishra.
The Bench asked senior advocate Altaf Ahmad, who argued for the State, to prepare a chart detailing the status of the victims and the rehabilitation work undertaken so far.
