Bengaluru violence: High Court appoints claim commissioner to assess damage to properties
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday appointed a retired judge as the Claims Commissioner for assessing the damage caused to properties by the rioters who went on rampage torching a Congress MLA's house and two police stations here recently.
Naming retired high court judge H S Kempanna as the Claim Commissioner, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S Kinagi directed the state government to issue a notification on his appointment and provide him infrastructure such as office, vehicles and staff.
The court was passing orders on the state government's plea for appointment of the Claim Commissioner to fix the liability on the rioters who also set afire a number of private and police vehicles during the violence on August 11 night protesting an alleged inflammatory social media post by Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy's relative.
As many as 377 people have been arrested while four people died with three of them in firing by police to quell the mob. In all, 65 cases have been registered in connection with the riots.
The state government on August 17 said it had decided to assess the damage caused to public and private property in the violence and recover the cost from the culprits.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa took to twitter and noted the high court's order.
" Our Govt approached Hon'ble High Court to appoint Claims Commissioner to assess the damages (sic) caused to public & private properties during riots in KJ Halli & DJ Halli, Bengaluru. Today, Hon'ble HC appointed Justice HS Kempanna (Retd) as Claims Commissioner," he tweeted.
The high court instructed the state to consult the Claims Commissioner regarding infrastructure that he would need and asked it to fix the remuneration considering his status as a retired high court judge and provide him benefits available to sitting judges of the HC.
The bench said the government should give wide publicity regarding the appointment of the claims commissioner and call upon persons whose property had been destroyed or damaged to submit the particulars before him so that he can assess the loss.
The state should also supply a list of empaneled list of property value assessors to the claims commissioner.
Directing the government to submit videos and recordings of the violence to the claims commissioner, the bench also said the public should also be asked to submit video footages to pin-point the damage and establish the role of the perpetrators.
The government can make a request to the Registrar General of the Court if the claims commissioner needed to summon witnesses or direct production of documents, it said and posted the matter to September 11 for further hearing.
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Chhattisgarh: Couple, two grandchildren killed over 'property' dispute; two relatives held
Janjgir (Chhattisgarh) (PTI): An elderly couple and their two grandchildren were allegedly murdered by two close relatives to grab family property in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa district, police said on Thursday.
The couple’s one son, who had earlier spent 15 years in jail for killing his own brother, and his son have been taken into custody in connection with the murders, an official said.
The bodies were found inside their under-construction house in Bhanvtara village under the jurisdiction of the Shivrinarayan police station after labourers reached the site for work in the morning, a senior police official said.
The deceased were identified as Medani Prasad Kashyap (70), his wife Kanti Bai (65), their grandchildren Pitambar Kashyap (17) and Mogra (25).
The deceased couple’s son, Sonsai, and his son Dakeshwar have been taken into custody in connection with the murders, the official said.
According to the preliminary investigation, Medani Prasad had three sons, including Sonsai. Police said Sonsai had murdered one of his brothers in the past and had served a 15-year jail term in the case, while the couple’s third son had reportedly died by suicide.
Sonsai and his son Dakeshwar, alias Golu, allegedly killed his parents and the children of his two deceased brothers with an axe while they were asleep in the under-construction house, he said.
Pitambar was the only son of one deceased brother, while Mogra was the only daughter of another, the official said.
The accused allegedly wanted sole ownership of the family property and are suspected of having committed the crime to eliminate other claimants, police said.
A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway, the official added.
