Gauhati HC orders compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to kin of 1994 Army killings
Guwahati, Mar 9: The Gauhati High Court on Thursday directed the Centre to pay compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the families of five youths killed by the Army in Assam's Tinsukia district in 1994 during an anti-insurgency operation, the advocate of a petitioner said.
The court also declared the case closed in view of the long time that has elapsed, which makes it difficult to retrieve evidence or witnesses, advocate Pari Barman told PTI.
A division bench of Justices Achintya Malla Bujor Barua and Robin Phukan gave the order, she said.
"The case has been closed today. The honourable court has ordered the Union of India to pay compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to next of kin of the five deceased," she added.
The case pertains to the killing of five youths who were among nine All Assam Students' Union (AASU) members picked up by the Army from the Doomdooma circle of Tinsukia district in February 1994, following the murder of a tea estate manager by the ULFA.
Then AASU leader Jagadish Bhuyan, who later became a state minister, immediately filed a habeas corpus before the high court fearing the safety of the nine youths, which had led the Army to produce four of them alive and the bodies of the others later.
Seven personnel of 18 Punjab Regiment of Dhola camp involved in the killings were found guilty and awarded life imprisonment by an Army court in 2018.
Barman said the district judge of Tinsukia has been asked to identify the next of kin, who are to make their claim before it within 15 days.
The compensation amount will be deposited with the high court and it will be paid to the victims' families as identified by the district judge, Barman said.
As the order copy was yet to be made available, it is difficult to share more details, the advocate said.
"Since it is an old case and it will be tough to retrieve evidence or witnesses, the court decided to close it. It was hearing two cases clubbed together, including the habeas corpus of 1994 filed by my client Jagadish Bhuyan," Barman said.
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Cong cites Kangana's purported remarks to accuse BJP of wanting to bring back repealed farm laws
New Delhi, Sep 24: The Congress on Tuesday cited BJP MP Kangana Ranaut's purported remarks on farm laws to allege that the ruling party was making efforts to bring back the three laws that were repealed in 2021, and asserted that Haryana will give a befitting reply to it.
The Congress shared on X an undated video of Ranaut in which she is purportedly saying in Hindi, "Farm laws that have been repealed should be brought back. I think this may get controversial. The laws in farmers' interest be brought back. Farmers should themselves demand this (to bring farm laws back) so that there is no hindrance to their prosperity.
"Farmers are a pillar of strength in India's progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers."
In a post in Hindi along with the video, the Congress said, "The three black laws imposed on farmers should be brought back: BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has said this. More than 750 farmers of the country were martyred, only then did the Modi government wake up and these black laws were withdrawn."
Now BJP MPs are planning to bring back these laws, the Congress alleged.
"The Congress is with the farmers. These black laws will never return, no matter how hard Narendra Modi and his MPs try," the opposition party said on X.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also shared the video of Ranaut on X and said, "'All three farm laws should be brought back': BJP MP Kangana Ranaut. More than 750 farmers were martyred while protesting against the three black farmer laws. Efforts are being made to bring them back."
"We will never let that happen. Haryana will answer first," she said in an apparent reference to the assembly polls in Haryana.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also shared the video on X and said it was the BJP's "real thinking".
"How many times will you deceive the farmers, you two-faced people?" Khera said in a post in Hindi.
The three laws -- Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act -- were repealed in November 2021.
The farmers' protest started at the fag-end of November 2020 and ended after Parliament repealed the three laws. The legislations came into force in June 2020 and were repealed in November 2021.
“तीनों किसान क़ानून वापस लाये जाने चाहिए” : BJP MP कंगना रनौत
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) September 24, 2024
जिन तीन काले किसान विरोधी क़ानूनों की मुख़ालिफ़त करते 750 से ज़्यादा किसान शहीद हो गए
उनको दोबारा से लाने की कोशिश की जा रही है. हम ऐसा कभी नहीं होने देंगे
सबसे पहला जवाब हरियाणा देगा pic.twitter.com/kRAkRuE2cc
