Chennai: The Madras high court has said the state government can investigate the matter and determine the damages relating to the alleged destruction of public property during the procession taken out by the volunteers of Hindu Munnani carrying the body of the slain activist Sasikumar at Coimbatore city on September 23.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R.Mahadevan closed the petition filed by D.Sivakumar, district vice president of the Social Democratic Party of India, which sought a direction to the Coimbatore District Collector to assess the damage caused by volunteers of Hindu Munnani in the wake of the procession taken out by them carrying the body of the slain activist Sasikumar at Coimbatore on September 23 and claim damages by filing application before the Commissioner of Revenue Administration and consequently direct the authorities to recover damages from Hindu Munnani and pay compensation to the victims.
The bench said it was alleged that various shops and establishments were attacked on September 23 post the murder and a procession was taken out from the main city to the end of the burial ground, which the police force was unable to control.
The petitioner claims to have made a representation to the authorities on September 26. The petitioner claims that permission for the procession ought not to have been granted and public life and property was not protected by the police.
The petitioner claims that the compensation for victims was to be recovered from the miscreants, the bench added. The bench said, “We are of the view that the incident was a single one preceded by a murder and as per the information in the public domain, there is alleged damage to public property.
“The petitioner has already made a representation. We are of the view that an incident of such a nature can be attended to by the state government and sufficient time has not passed for judicial intervention at this stage, as the state government on representation of the petitioner can investigate the matter and determine the damages, if any, as per the Tamil Nadu Property (Prevention of damage and loss) Act. “We, thus for the present leave the issue to the state government in the aforesaid facts and circumstances”.
