2 Sikh riot victims get justice after 32 yrs, HC awards compensation

INDORE: After 32 years of long-drawn legal battle, two victims of the 1984 Sikh riots were awarded compensation for their shops reduced to cinders in the violence, which rocked Indore in the wake of assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court (MPHC) awarded victims compensation of Rs 4.81 lakh with 8.5% per annum interest on the amount from the date of filing the FIR, petitioner’s counsel Himanshu Joshi told TOI.

Justice SC Sharma directed the district collector to pay compensation to Sharan Singh, 60, and Surjeet Singh, 67, in 90 days and submit a compliance report on the same, he said.

Surjeet Singh owned a timber shop and a saw mill in Snehlataganj and Sharan Singh a liquor shop in Chhavani area. The shops were vandalized and torched in 1984.

They separately filed complaints and FIRs in police stations. The two moved the court with necessary documents to seek compensation for the losses they suffered.

Surjeet Singh applied for a compensation of Rs 1.04 lakh and Sharan Singh demanded Rs 3.77 lakh.

Justice Sharma observed that no amount of compensation is going to heal the wound of the 1984 riot victims. However, the compensation is a small measure to provide justice to the victims.

The court also directed that in case the collector failed to give the compensation in 90 days, the court will initiate a suo moto contempt of court proceeding against him.

Sharan Singh and Sujreet Singh had filed fresh petitions through advocate Himanshu Joshi in 2014 after the district administration refused to give compensation to the two victims stating that their names did not appear in the ‘daira panji’ (a list of riot victims, prepared by the state government in 1984).

The court found the documents submitted by the petitioners clearly showed that they were victims of the 1984 riots. The state government is rejecting the right of compensation of petitioners on frivolous ground that their names were not found in the ‘diara panji’, it observed.

Justice Sharma also asked the district administration to pay Rs 25,000 to each of the petitioners as cost incurred on legal proceedings.

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