Supreme Court decides on compensation of loss of damaged religious structure in Gujarat riots today

New Delhi: Should the state government compensate the damage done to religious sites in the 2002 Gujarat riots? The Supreme Court will decide on this question on Tuesday. This case came to the Supreme Court in 2012. Then the Gujarat government had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the order of the High Court. The Gujarat High Court had ordered that the state government should compensate the loss due to religious places.

The High Court had asked to make a list of religious sites damaged during the riots in all the 26 districts of the state. On behalf of petitioner Islamic Relief Center, it was claimed that the number of such sites is approximately 500. While the State Government believes that the number is much less than that. He also argues that it is wrong to ask him to pay compensation.

During the hearing, the counsel appearing on behalf of the Gujarat government had said, “Under Article 27 of the Constitution, the taxpayer has been given the right that it can not be taxed to encourage any religion. In such a situation, it would be wrong to give money to the government treasury to build religious places. ”

He further said that the Gujarat government has officially created this policy that it will not compensate the losses incurred to the religious structure . The state government had not given any compensation for the damaged religious structure in 2001 earthquake.

The lawyer of the Islamic Relief Center, a petitioner of the case in the High Court, opposed it. He said that security of the shrines is the responsibility of the state government. It should be compensated by the government’s irresponsible loss.

The hearing of this case pending for 5 years has been on two important questions: –

First, if the government compensates the religious site due to its irresponsibility, can it be considered to promote a religion?

Second, if any major commercial complexes are destroyed in rioting, then should the government also compensate the loss? If this is so why is insurance done?