Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Delhi Riots' Victim's Plea For Rs.5 lakh Damages For Shop Looted, Burnt

The Delhi High Court has issued notice on and sought responses of the Centre, Delhi Government and others on a plea by a Delhi 2020 riots victim seeking damages worth Rs. 5 lakhs against the looting, burning and destroying of his rented shop in North-East Delhi's Shiv Vihar.

Justice Prathiba M. Singh sought replies from the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) on Sayeed Ahmed Khan's petition and scheduled the matter for further hearing on Apr 26 with a batch of other similar matters.

The plea cited the Delhi Government's Assistance Scheme for the Help of Delhi Riot Victims formulated by the AAP-led Delhi Government, according to which, the Petitioner claimed to be qualifying for Rs. 5 lakh as permanent compensation and Rs. 50,000 as interim compensation. The petitioner stated that the compensation was necessary to get families of riots victims back on their feet in the present time.

Praying for a "holistic compensation", the plea states that till now it had infact seemed that instead of making efforts for the rehabilitation of the victims, the respondent authorities had infact perpetuated more grief and distress amongst them, and said that the compensation was necessary as through it, "the government tries to rectify its mistakes and makes an honest effort to put the victims of violence back to their previous positions, as they would have been before the violence."

The scheme mandates Rs. 5 lakhs in toto for uninsured commercial units.

Khan was allegedly informed of the damage to his shop on Feb 25 last year, on a call from his friend, Arvind, who also seemed to have cautioned Khan from coming down to Shiv Vihar as the area was volatile and "dangerous for the Muslim community", according to the plea.

The petitioner has also sought court's direction to the Delhi government to modify the present Government Assistance Scheme for the Delhi Riot Victims and to take into consideration the looting, theft and vandalism of residential and commercial places during the riot.

Click here to download the Order