Either the State Government is dumb or does not think much about playing with fire. How else does one explain the fact that it submitted a totally wrong information to the Supreme Court of India, regarding the payment of compensation to the next of kins of 28 people who were killed by security forces under dubious claims ? For the record, the Supreme Court of India had ruled that the State Government should pay Rs 5 lakh each to the family members of 28 people killed under dubious circumstances on December 8, 2015. Since the compensation was not paid at all, the Supreme Court again ruled on April 22 this year that compensation of Rs 5,50,000 should be paid to each of the family members of the 28 people killed within four weeks time, counting from April 22 this year. In hiking the compensation from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 5, 50,000, the apex Court of the country was penalising the State Government for failing to pay the compensation as ordered on December 8 last year. Tough to say what prompted it to come out with such an outlandish claim, but on July 13 this year, the counsels of the State Government submitted before the Supreme Court that the compensation amount has been paid. Now with family members of 11 of the 28 victims coming out in the open and claiming that they still have not received a single paise, one wonders how the State Government will respond once this reaches the notice of the Supreme Court.
Money. Definitely this will not bring back the dead, but in imposing the financial penalty the Supreme Court is sending out the message that the State is there to protect its citizens and there will be penalty to pay if this is flouted. Pull up the State for failing to protect is citizens and provide some reprieve to the family members. Also remember that most of the victims were the sole bread earners of the family and the financial trouble the families must have endured after their lives were snuffed out can only be imagined. This is what Human Rights Alert and EEVFAM also want to convey to all concerned. Moreover in submitting false information to the Supreme Court, the State Government may also be said to be demonstrating its haughtiness, under the impression that they can get away by cooking up some fantastic tale. For now the truth lies exposed before the public and while the family members must be lauded for coming out in the open, the State Government should reconcile to the fact that they cannot always get away by spinning out some fantastic tales. Time to separate fiction from the fact.
