Tribunals set up to adjudicate claims for compensation for destruction of property during CAA protests: UP govt to SC

New Delhi [India], July 9 : The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday told the Supreme Court that property damage claims tribunals have been set up to adjudicate the claims of private individuals and government authorities for compensation for the destruction of property during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests and violence in the state.
The tribunals were constituted under the Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damage to Public and Private Property Law, 2020.
Appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, Additional Advocate General for State Garima Prasad said that Tribunals have been set up in the matter and developments have taken place to effectuate compensatory benefits.
"State has gone ahead in the matter and issued notifications, developments have taken place, Acts notified and tribunals have been constituted," she told the apex court.
A Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah then listed the matter for July 23 and directed the State to file its affidavit stipulating the developments that have taken place.
The apex court was hearing a plea seeking quashing of the recovery notices issued by the Uttar Pradesh administration to recover the damage caused to public properties in connection with protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the state.
The petition was filed by advocate Parvez Arif Titu who sought direction for setting up an independent judicial enquiry to probe into the incidents that occurred during the protests against the CAA-NRC in Uttar Pradesh.
The plea has stated that notices have been sent in Uttar Pradesh in an "arbitrary manner" against a person, who had died six years ago at the age of 94. The notices were issued to two others who are aged above 90, it claimed.
Seeking a stay on notices, the petition stated that notices have been sent to persons who have not been booked under any penal provisions and no details of FIR or any criminal offences have been made out against them.
It was contended that recovery notices were based on an Allahabad High Court judgement passed in 2010 which is in "violation of the guidelines" passed by the Supreme Court in a 2009 judgment which was later re-affirmed in a 2018 verdict.
The plea, filed through advocate Nilofar Khan, stated, "The contradiction is that while the Supreme Court in 2009 put the onus of assessment of damages and recovery from the accused on high courts of every state, whereas the Allahabad High Court had issued guidelines in 2010 judgement that let the state government undertake these processes to recover damages, which has serious implications".
The petition also sought direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to follow the procedure as per the 2009 and 2018 guidelines of the top court while claiming damages to recover the losses caused to public property during such protests.
As many as 925 persons, who have been arrested so far in connection with the violent protests, may not get bail easily in Uttar Pradesh till they pay up for the losses as they have to be given conditional bail only after they deposit the amount, the petitioner added.