Tag: compensation

  • Joshimath: Government releases compensation policy for disaster-hit people, damaged buildings 

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government has issued a compensation policy for buildings damaged in the Joshimath land submergence disaster. After the approval of the Governor, Secretary of Disaster Management Dr Ranjit Kumar Sinha issued the government order.

    According to a government order issued on Wednesday, the compensation rates will be calculated on the basis of the rates of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) for the plinth area. Joshimath’s cost index will also be added to it. Compensation will be given by making slabs for commercial buildings. Three options have been given for permanent rehabilitation.

    According to information received from the state disaster management department, “The government has issued a compensation policy for the damaged buildings of Joshimath. The compensation for residential buildings has been fixed at Rs 31,201 per square metre to Rs 36,527 per square metre. For commercial buildings, the rates have been fixed at Rs 39,182 per square metre to Rs 46,099 per square metre.

    The compensation for the land will be decided after the report of the technical institutes. It will be placed in the next cabinet meeting for approval.

    Compensation for commercial buildings will be given after deducting the amount of depreciation of the affected building from the cost of the affected building based on the rates fixed in five slabs. Apart from this, five slabs have been fixed for compensation for shops and other commercial establishments. (hotels,dhabas, etc.)

    The government has already given three options for residential buildings.

    Option 1: Disaster-affected land building owners, whose residential buildings are not habitable based on the report of technical institutions, will be compensated at the rate fixed for the residential building. If the land is also declared unsafe, then it will also be compensated according to the rates fixed in the future.

    Option 2: If disaster-affected people whose buildings and land will be declared unsafe, if they demand land for a residential building while receiving building compensation, the maximum area to build a house for the affected person is 75 square meters. If the price of the unprotected land of the affected family is higher than the allotted land, compensation will be given separately by the government after adjustment.

    Option 3: The disaster-affected person can demand a residential building constructed relative to his land and building. Houses will be built by the state government on land up to a maximum area of 50 square meters. Apart from this, 25 square meters of land will be given for cow shelter and other work. Apartfrom this, separate compensation will be given if there is land.

    DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government has issued a compensation policy for buildings damaged in the Joshimath land submergence disaster. After the approval of the Governor, Secretary of Disaster Management Dr Ranjit Kumar Sinha issued the government order.

    According to a government order issued on Wednesday, the compensation rates will be calculated on the basis of the rates of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) for the plinth area. Joshimath’s cost index will also be added to it. Compensation will be given by making slabs for commercial buildings. Three options have been given for permanent rehabilitation.

    According to information received from the state disaster management department, “The government has issued a compensation policy for the damaged buildings of Joshimath. The compensation for residential buildings has been fixed at Rs 31,201 per square metre to Rs 36,527 per square metre. For commercial buildings, the rates have been fixed at Rs 39,182 per square metre to Rs 46,099 per square metre.

    The compensation for the land will be decided after the report of the technical institutes. It will be placed in the next cabinet meeting for approval.

    Compensation for commercial buildings will be given after deducting the amount of depreciation of the affected building from the cost of the affected building based on the rates fixed in five slabs. Apart from this, five slabs have been fixed for compensation for shops and other commercial establishments. (hotels,
    dhabas, etc.)

    The government has already given three options for residential buildings.

    Option 1: Disaster-affected land building owners, whose residential buildings are not habitable based on the report of technical institutions, will be compensated at the rate fixed for the residential building. If the land is also declared unsafe, then it will also be compensated according to the rates fixed in the future.

    Option 2: If disaster-affected people whose buildings and land will be declared unsafe, if they demand land for a residential building while receiving building compensation, the maximum area to build a house for the affected person is 75 square meters. If the price of the unprotected land of the affected family is higher than the allotted land, compensation will be given separately by the government after adjustment.

    Option 3: The disaster-affected person can demand a residential building constructed relative to his land and building. Houses will be built by the state government on land up to a maximum area of 50 square meters. Apart from this, 25 square meters of land will be given for cow shelter and other work. Apart
    from this, separate compensation will be given if there is land.

  • SC expresses concern over non-payment of compensation to victims of Bhopal gas tragedy

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed its displeasure over Centre’s failure in providing compensation to the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy till now. 

    The five judge bench while considering centre’s plea seeking additional compensation from Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) (now Dow Chemical Company), expressed concern with regards to the undisbursed dues of Rs 50 crore which were lying with the centre out of the $470 million paid by the company. 

    “We were told that ₹50 crore of the settlement amount is lying undisbursed… Have you not exhausted the settlement amount? How is ₹50 crore lying undisbursed? This means that people are not getting the money… Are you responsible for the money not going to the people?” A five judge bench headed by Justice SK Kaul remarked. He also said, “There are many slippery areas if you say, open the settlement.”

    Remarking that the centre without seeking review of its earlier order had opted to directly file a curative plea in 2010 for enhancement of the final settlement paid by UCC, the bench asked centre how it could ask for additional compensation (over Rs 7400 crore) when UCC had already paid Rs 470 million dollar.

    Further asking centre as to how could it reopen the settlement, the bench said, “Settlement has arrived at particular stage of time, can we say 10 years hence or 30 years hence open the settlement on the basis of some fresh documents? why did you settle then? One of the parties to the settlement was the Union of India no less, not a weak party… Let’s say, on the other hand, a situation arises that the actual scenario is less horrific than made out to be… Can the other side (UCC) come out and say that an excess amount was paid in the settlement and they want the money back? Can we permit that?” 

    Referring to SCs 1991 decision wherein the top court had refused to reopen the settlement, Justice Oka said that the same had clarified that any shortfall in the additional compensation to be paid to the victims by the centre. 

    Stressing on increase in the number of claimants since 1991, Attorney General (AG) for India R Venkataramani argued that an extraordinary situation was presented by the tragedy. “There’s always situations court has added to settlement if justice of cause demands. We are asking for settlement to be annulled. Amount made over to us was under settlement, figure on number of deaths for temporary damage etc, the figures have gone way more than that,” the AG added. 

    Appearing for UCC, Senior Advocate Harish Salve said that UCC wasn’t willing to pay a farthing more if SC sets aside the settlement that was arrived in 1989.  “My client is not willing to pay a farthing more. They say this is what they settled for, and if you (government) don’t want the settlement, let the law take its course. That is our submission,” Salve said.

    “There is settlement. There is no re-opener clause in a settlement. There’s jurisdictional factor where curative jurisdiction was unknown when all this started, a suit was filed by Ggent which was arrived was based on “consent decree” which was sourced from a suit. He also added that the liability of UCC for the tragedy was not established. 

    Centre in the plea that was filed in 2010 following a public outcry against the perceived laxity of sentences against the accused’s tried for the gas release had sought for enhancing the 1989 settlement agreement which was negotiated by the UOI with UCC and Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) and SC’s judgement approving the negotiation. 

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed its displeasure over Centre’s failure in providing compensation to the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy till now. 

    The five judge bench while considering centre’s plea seeking additional compensation from Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) (now Dow Chemical Company), expressed concern with regards to the undisbursed dues of Rs 50 crore which were lying with the centre out of the $470 million paid by the company. 

    “We were told that ₹50 crore of the settlement amount is lying undisbursed… Have you not exhausted the settlement amount? How is ₹50 crore lying undisbursed? This means that people are not getting the money… Are you responsible for the money not going to the people?” A five judge bench headed by Justice SK Kaul remarked. He also said, “There are many slippery areas if you say, open the settlement.”

    Remarking that the centre without seeking review of its earlier order had opted to directly file a curative plea in 2010 for enhancement of the final settlement paid by UCC, the bench asked centre how it could ask for additional compensation (over Rs 7400 crore) when UCC had already paid Rs 470 million dollar.

    Further asking centre as to how could it reopen the settlement, the bench said, “Settlement has arrived at particular stage of time, can we say 10 years hence or 30 years hence open the settlement on the basis of some fresh documents? why did you settle then? One of the parties to the settlement was the Union of India no less, not a weak party… Let’s say, on the other hand, a situation arises that the actual scenario is less horrific than made out to be… Can the other side (UCC) come out and say that an excess amount was paid in the settlement and they want the money back? Can we permit that?” 

    Referring to SCs 1991 decision wherein the top court had refused to reopen the settlement, Justice Oka said that the same had clarified that any shortfall in the additional compensation to be paid to the victims by the centre. 

    Stressing on increase in the number of claimants since 1991, Attorney General (AG) for India R Venkataramani argued that an extraordinary situation was presented by the tragedy. “There’s always situations court has added to settlement if justice of cause demands. We are asking for settlement to be annulled. Amount made over to us was under settlement, figure on number of deaths for temporary damage etc, the figures have gone way more than that,” the AG added. 

    Appearing for UCC, Senior Advocate Harish Salve said that UCC wasn’t willing to pay a farthing more if SC sets aside the settlement that was arrived in 1989.  “My client is not willing to pay a farthing more. They say this is what they settled for, and if you (government) don’t want the settlement, let the law take its course. That is our submission,” Salve said.

    “There is settlement. There is no re-opener clause in a settlement. There’s jurisdictional factor where curative jurisdiction was unknown when all this started, a suit was filed by Ggent which was arrived was based on “consent decree” which was sourced from a suit. He also added that the liability of UCC for the tragedy was not established. 

    Centre in the plea that was filed in 2010 following a public outcry against the perceived laxity of sentences against the accused’s tried for the gas release had sought for enhancing the 1989 settlement agreement which was negotiated by the UOI with UCC and Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) and SC’s judgement approving the negotiation. 

  • Plea in SC seeking guidelines for compensation to victims of wrongful prosecutions

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Central government to frame guidelines for compensation to victims of wrongful prosecutions.

    The petition filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay said alternatively, being a custodian of the Constitution and protector of the right to life, liberty and dignity, the Court may use its plenary constitutional power to frame the guidelines for compensation to victims of wrongful prosecutions.

    “There has been a spurt in false cases. Wrongful prosecution and incarceration of innocent persons with no effective statutory and legal mechanism available to the innocent persons to address the same, is causing ‘miscarriage of justice’ and has created a black-hole in the criminal jurisprudence of our Country,” the petition added.

    The petitioner said the facts constituting a cause of action accrued on January 28 this year when the Allahabad High Court declared one, Vishnu Tiwari, innocent and observed that the motive of the FIR was a land dispute. Vishnu was arrested on September 16, 2000, after being booked for rape and atrocities under the SC/ST Act and was in jail for 20 years.

    The Allahabad High Court acquitted Vishnu Tiwari, who spent 20 years in jail on rape charges with no compensation awarded, ignoring even the public law remedy which shows the necessity of effective compensation and legal mechanism for malicious prosecutions and the wrongful incarceration of innocents, the PIL said.

    The injury caused to the citizens is extremely large because due to the Centre’s inaction, citizens’ right to life, liberty and dignity, guaranteed under Article 21, is being brazenly offended, it added.

    The petition further said that it is necessary to state that the High Court of Delhi, while dealing with an appeal on the issues of fines and awarding of default sentences without reasoning and suspension of sentence during the pendency of the appeal, expressed its concerns about wrongful implications of innocent persons who are acquitted after long years of incarceration, and the lack of a legislative framework to provide relief to those who are wrongfully prosecuted.

    The High Court, on November 30, 2017, directed the Law Commission of India to undertake a comprehensive examination of the issue of relief and rehabilitation to victims of wrongful prosecution and incarceration and the Law Commission submitted its report on August 30, 2018, but Centre has not taken appropriate steps to implement the recommendations, it said.

    The plea also sought directions to implement the recommendations of the Law Commission’s report.

    It further pointed out to the NCRB Annual Statistical Report called Prison Statistics India (PSI) which contains information with respect to prisons, prisoners, and prison infrastructure.

    “According to PSI 2015, there were 4,19,623 prisoners across the country out of which, 67.2 per cent i.e. 2,82,076 were under trial; substantially higher than the convict population i.e. 1,34,168 (32.0 per cent). A review of the data in PSI shows that across the country as well as in States, under trial prisoners continue to be higher in numbers than the convict population,” the plea submitted.

    “Due to no fear of being prosecuted by Courts and growing tendency to frame innocents for ulterior motives, there has been an unprecedented surge in filing of false cases these days by vengeful vexatious complainants who falsely implicate innocents who are acquitted after a protracted trial and have to bear the ignominy of society with no compensatory mechanism. The legal remedies available under the existing legal system and the mechanism of compensation for miscarriage of justice resulting in wrongful prosecution remain complex and uncertain,” it added.

    Apart from very few cases in which the compensation was fixed at Rs 50,000, there are no statutory or legal schemes articulating State’s affective response to compensate the victims.  

  • PM Modi talks to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, declaration of compensation

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held talks with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and after that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced compensation for dependents of people who lost their lives in the state due to cyclone prevention and heavy rains. Two lakh rupees will be given to the dependents of those who lost their lives due to cyclone and heavy rains, while the injured people will be given an ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 each. The PMO said that financial assistance to dependents and injured of the deceased will be provided from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and central parties are being sent to assist in relief and rescue work in the state. A severe cyclonic storm hit the beach near Puducherry on Thursday, killing three people and uprooting more than 1,000 trees and flooding many low-lying areas in Tamil Nadu due to heavy rains. The PMO tweeted, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and discussed the situation created due to cyclone and heavy rains in the state. The Prime Minister expressed condolences to the dead and wished the injured to get well soon. ”

  • Central Government released financial assistance of 4381 crores to 6 states suffering natural calamities.

    The High Level Committee, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has approved financial assistance for 6 states of the country affected by hurricanes, floods and landslides. These states include the names of West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim which have been given a fund of Rs 4,381.88 crore. This year there was an outbreak of floods and landslides in these states in addition to cyclonic storms enfen and nature.

    The High Level Commission headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah has approved additional central assistance to 6 states under the National Disaster Management Fund. After this approval, 6 states of the country will be given Rs 4,381.88 crore. Rs 2,707.77 crore has been given to West Bengal affected by cyclonic storm Enfen and Rs 128.23 crore to Odisha. At the same time, Maharashtra will be given assistance of Rs 268.59 crore for the storm.

    Karnataka, which has suffered floods and landslides during the south-west monsoon, will get Rs 577.84 crore, Madhya Pradesh will get Rs 611.61 crore and Sikkim will get Rs 87.84 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the affected states of West Bengal and Odisha on 22 May 2020 after the devastation of cyclonic storm Anfan, during which he announced financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to West Bengal and Rs 500 crore to Odisha. Soon after, this financial assistance was provided on 23 May.

    Apart from this, the Prime Minister had announced a sum of Rs 2 lakh for the families of the deceased and a compensation of Rs 50 thousand for the injured. Immediately after these disasters, inter-ministerial central teams were formed by the central government in all 6 states for relief. Apart from this, during the financial year 2020-21, till date, the central government has been given Rs 15,524.43 crore to 28 states.

  • Discrimination in petrol pump allotment: 26/11 victim’s widow

    Mumbai: Sunanda Shinde was 36 when her husband, a ward boy at a south Mumbai hospital was killed by terrorists, who also slayed 165 others during the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

    Ten years on, she feels the Government discriminated while deciding on compensation for the 26/11 martyrs. Sunanda’s husband Bhagan Shinde worked at the Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital. That fateful night, on hearing gun shots, he had gone to a nearby phone booth to call his wife and kids when he was shot from behind at the hospital gate. “The Govt should not have discriminated while giving compensation to the families of martyrs,” says Sunanda, who now works as an ‘ayah’ (maid) in the same hospital. “Kin of martyrs from police got petrol pumps besides the compensation amount, a house and jobs. But the Govt did not allot petrol pumps to martyrs who were from Government hospitals,” she said.