Contempt notice to Gujarat govt over relief

The Gujarat high court on Wednesday issued contempt notice to the Narendra Modi-led BJP government for not obeying its order to compensate people whose shops were burnt in the post-Godhra riots.

The Gujarat high court on Wednesday issued contempt notice to the Narendra Modi-led BJP government for not obeying its order to compensate people whose shops were burnt in the post-Godhra riots.

The notice comes a week after the court indicted the state government for non-restoration of religious places destroyed in the communal frenzy of 2002.

A division bench of justice Akil Kureshi and justice CL Soni asked the Ahmedabad district collector to reply by March 14 as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated.

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The court order came on a petition of 56 people whose shops were set on fire in Rakhial area of the city. The shop owners had applied for compensation after the Centre announced additional relief package for riot victims in February 2008.

After getting no response from the district authority, they moved the high court. The court had passed an order in September last year, directing the collector to examine their applications.

The shop owners said earlier this month they received a communication from the collector’s office that all the 56 applications had been dismissed in August 2011.

With PTI inputs