LexMOHD. HAROON & ORS. versus UNION OF INDIA & ANR.
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[2014] 4 S.C.R. 907 MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. (Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 155 of 2013) MARCH 26, 2014 [P. SATHASIVAM CJI., RANJANA PRAKASH DESAI AND RANJAN GOGOi , JJ.] RIOTS: Muzaffarnagar riots - Communal tension wrecking lives of a large number of people - Writ petitions seeking for an inclusive protection for each victim whose fundamental rights have been infringed in the said riot - Held: When the incidents A B c of communal disturbance flared up, it was expected by the 0 State intelligence agencies to apprise the State Government and the District Administration in particular, to prevent such communal violence - Prima facie, the State government is responsible for being negligent at the initial stage in not anticipating the communal violence and for taking necessary E steps for its prevention - In these matters, from time to time various interim orders have been passed by the Supreme Court for monitoring the situation at the place of incident - On directions of the Supreme Court, the State Government has made arrangements in relief camps for medical facilities, sanitation, tents, items of daily use, cloths, financial assistance F to the wounded and the families of deceased persons and for their resettlement and rehabilitation - State Government is also directed to pay compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs for rehabilitation of victims of rape - Sincere efforts shall be made to apprehend all the accused of murders irrespective of G political affiliation and produce them before the appropriate court - State is directed to identify the left out injured persons (simple/grievous}, next kin of the deceased who died in the communal violence and settle the compensation - It is the 907 H 908 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 4 S.C.R. A responsibility of the State Administration in association with the intelligence agencies of both State and Centre to prevent such recurrence of communal violence in any part of the State - The officers responsible for maintaining law and order, if found negligent, should be brought under the ambit of law B irrespective of their status - The relief, not only be provided to all needy families irrespective of their religion but it should a/so be provided to only genuinely affected families. Muzaffarnagar riots - Communal riots - Incidents of rapes C - Government directed to formulate and implement policies in order to uplift socio-economic conditions of women and sensitization of society and police force - Victims to be paid compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs in addition to various benefits - Crime against women. D INVEST/GA T/ONllNQUIRY: Muzaffarnagar riots - Communal violence wrecking Jives of large number of people - Brutal murders, rapes and large scale migration taken place - Writ petition under Article 32 - E Prayer for transfer of investigation to CBI or SIT - Held: Such an order cannot be passed as a matter of routine or merely when some a/legations are leveled against the local police - This extraordinary power must be exercised sparingly, cautiously and in exceptional situations where it becomes F necessary to provide credibility and instill confidence in investigation - Based on various interim orders in the instant writ petitions, the State Government had constituted a Specia/- 1 nvestigation Cell (SIC) - Details furnished by the State showed that after constitution of SIC, it inquired about all those persons who had fled from their villages and had taken refuge G in various relief camps and noted their problems by taking list of such persons staying in camps - In the light of steps taken by State, there is no need to either constitute SIT or entrust investigation to the CBI. H MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 909 CRIME AGAINST WOMEN: Victim Compensation in Rape Cases - Held: No compensation can l)e adequate nor can it be of any respite A for the victims but since it is on account of failure of the State that such incidents take place, the State is duty bound to 8 provide compensation, which may help in victims' rehabilitation - In 2009, a new s.357A was introduced in the Code which casted a responsibility on the State Governments to formulate Schemes for compensation to the victims of crime in coordination with the Central Government whereas, C previously, s.357 ruled the field which was not mandatory in nature and only the offender could be directed to pay compensation to the
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