Hooligans liable to compensate the victims of violence: SC
New Delhi, Oct 1 : Issuing guidelines including video-recording of vandalism and hooliganism, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that whoever causes damage to public or private property will be made liable to compensate the victims of violence.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice Dr D.Y. Chandrachud said the authorities must ensure that arrests of miscreants found on the spot are done in right earnest.
It was the last judgement delivered by the current Chief Justice Dipak Misra in which he has directed the state governments to set up rapid response teams preferably district-wise and specially train them to deal with mob violence and deploy these teams around vulnerable cultural establishments.
The order came on a public interest litigation filed by Kodungallur Film Society, which had sought framing of guidelines to deter acts of vandalism.
"This Court has time and again underscored the supremacy of law and that one must not forget that administration of law can only be done by law-enforcing agencies recognised by law," the court said.
"Nobody has the right to become a self-appointed guardian of law and forcibly administer his or her own interpretation of the law on others, especially with violent means. Mob violence runs against the very core of our established legal principles since it signals chaos and lawlessness. The state has a duty to protect its citizens against illegal and reprehensible acts of such groups," the court said.
Observing loss to property during such incident, the court directed authorities to video-record the events and, if required, hire private video operators to record the events or request the media for information on the incident.
Claims arising out of such acts of violence should be dealt with in the manner prescribed under the destruction of public and private properties, the court said, directing police officers to file first information reports and complete investigation as far as possible within the statutory period.
"Any failure to file FIRs and conduct investigations within the statutory period without sufficient cause should be considered as dereliction of duty on behalf of the officer concerned and can be proceeded against by way of departmental action in right earnest," the court said.
As liability of person causing violence, the court ordered agencies to take appropriate action against such persons and the leader of the organisations involved in such acts under provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
The court also directed the governments to set up special helplines, create and maintain a cyber information portal on its website and on its internet-based applications for reporting instances of mob violence and destruction of public and private properties.
It also ordered that the authorities may consider taking appropriate steps as per law including to impose reasonable restrictions on the social media and internet-based communication services or mobile applications.
The court directed that authorities to take coordinated efforts and issue messages across various audio-visual mediums including local TV channels, radio stations, social media like Twitter to restore peace and to control rumours.
The court directed nodal officers to coordinate with local emergency services, including police stations, fire brigades, hospital, medical services and disaster management authorities during incidents of mob violence in order to have a comprehensive and consolidated response to the situation.
The authorities must consider the use of non-lethal crowd-control devices, like water cannons and tear gas, which cause minimum injury to people but at the same time, act as an effective deterrent against mob force, the court said.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
