Satnam Singh Gambhir vs State of Jharkhand

I.A. No. 1869 of 2016

The instant application stands disposed of directing the Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur to look into the grievance projected in the instant application and to take necessary action in accordance with law.

I.A. No. 1869 of 2016 stands disposed of.

W.P. (PIL) No. 5251 of 2013

Indifference of the State to address the miseries of the victims of 1984 communal violence, compelled the petitioners of which petitioner no. 2 is a witness to the horrific incident in which all male members of her family were killed, to approach this Court in the instant Public Interest Litigation Petition.

One of the prayers in the instant petition is for appointment of an Enquiry Commission headed by a Retired High Court Judge. Vide order dated 10.11.2014 the learned Additional Advocate-General sought six weeks'' time for apprising the Court whether the State is contemplating appointment of "One Man Commission" as was done in C.W.P No. 3265 of 2011 titled "Sikhs for Justice & Anr. v. State of Haryana & Ors." Several adjournments were taken however, the query put on 10.11.2014 was not answered by the respondent-State. In the meantime, counter-affidavit and supplementary affidavits were filed by the parties. What appears to the Court is that even after lapse of 31 years, the State has no clear picture on the status of the criminal cases registered in the 1984 riots. Another aspect which came to the notice of the Court is that in the Palamau district itself a sum of Rs. 1,64,00,000/- (Rs. One Crore Sixty Four Lacs) is still lying with the Deputy Commissioner for disbursement to the 1984 riot''s victims. It also transpires that the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has provided Rs. 5 Lacs as compensation to the victims/kith and kin of the victims of 1984 riots in addition to the compensation earlier fixed.

After going through the voluminous records produced by the State and the affidavits filed on behalf of the parties, we are of the considered view that further monitoring of the case by this Court would not only be time consuming, it may not yield desired results. In the aforesaid circumstance, we are of the considered view that a "One Man Commission" should look into the matter and ensure payment of compensation to the victims/kith and kin of the victims of 1984 riots. In so far as registration of criminal cases are concerned, the "One Man Commission" may seek status report from the concerned Court however, it may not issue any direction in this regard to the Court concerned. Considering the issue involved in the present petition, we hereby appoint the "One Man Commission" comprising of Hon''ble Justice (Retired) D.P. Singh which would take up the matter on the following points:

(i) To ensure payment of compensation to the victims/kith and kin of victims in terms of the notifications/circulars in vogue.

(ii) To identify the victims/kith and kin of the victims and suggest the measures to be taken by the State for their identification, and

(iii) To seek status of the pending criminal cases from concerned Superintendent of Police and the Courts and make suitable recommendations to the Government.

Mr. Ajit Kumar, the learned Additional Advocate-General informs that generally the Hon''ble Judges (Retired) heading Commissions are paid their salary last drawn minus pension with admissible allowances. Considering the temporary nature of the Commission, we hereby fix the remuneration for the "One Man Commission" at Rupees One Lac per month however, it is made clear that in view of the nature of the assignment, the "One Man Commission" shall not claim any other benefit except, the actual cost incurred for dictation, typing, postage etc.

The "One Man Commission" shall hold sitting at least twice every month and monitor the progress on payment of compensation and it shall continue till almost all the victims are paid compensation.

Registry is directed to transmit the records of the instant petition to "One Man Commission" where both the parties shall cause their first appearance on 20th of June, 2016 (Monday) at 04.00 p.m.

The instant petition stands disposed of accordingly.

I.A. No. 1854 of 2015 stands disposed of.