Deposit ₹5.2 crore for damage during strike: Kerala high court to PFI
A division bench of Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice C P Mohammad Nias directed the outfit to deposit the amount in two weeks and directed all lower courts not to grant bail to any of the accused till they pay up. It also directed the government to make Sattar, who made the call for the hartal, an additional accused in all cases filed in connection with violence.
The Kerala high court on Thursday directed the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and its state secretary Abdul Sattar to deposit ₹5.20 crore with the state’s additional chief secretary (home) towards estimated damage incurred by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on account of the bandh and violence last Friday that followed the nationwide crackdown on the outfit.
A division bench of Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice C P Mohammad Nias directed the outfit to deposit the amount in two weeks and directed all lower courts not to grant bail to any of the accused till they pay up. It also directed the government to make Sattar, who made the call for the hartal, an additional accused in all cases filed in connection with violence.
“Lives of citizens cannot be put in peril. The message is loud and clear. If anybody does it, this will be the consequence. You can have your organisation and you can have your demonstrations against any cause, the Constitution permits it. But no flash hartals,” the court said, while detailing the process for recovering the money from the PFI and Sattar.
The court also made all those arrested in the state for the September 23 state-wide strike as co-accused in this case so that recovery proceedings can be initiated against them. As per Kerala police, close to 1,500 PFI activists were arrested after vandalism during the strike across the state.
The court said that in case the money is not paid, the state government should proceed under the Revenue Recovery Act against assets/properties of PFI, its office-bearers and Sattar to recover the money. The court said the money recovered should be kept in a separate account and disburbed to claimants of losses as per the orders of the Claims Commissioner, it added.
In 2019, the court had ruled that at least seven days’ notice is needed for a bandh or strike and declared that a sudden shutdown was illegal and unconstitutional. After Friday’s bandh and violence, the court had filed a case suo motu saying organisers will face contempt charges.
The KSRTC had informed the court that 58 of its buses were damaged and 20 employees injured in the violence. The court also criticised the police saying “they played a passive role in deal with the situation”.
A nationwide crackdown against PFI and the arrest of several of its workers and leaders by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last week had led the now-banned outfit to call a bandh in Kerala on Friday. During the violence on that day, bombs were hurled at several places, shops and establishments were forcefully shut down by stone pelting and KSRTC buses were damaged.
Get Current Updates on India News, Election 2024, Arvind Kejriwal News Live, Bihar Board 10th Result 2024 Live along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.