The Supreme Court today asked the Uttar Pradesh government to inform it about the action it intended to take on the report of a panel which probed the 2006 Meerut fire tragedy at in which 64 people were killed.
A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra also asked the District Judge of Meerut to give out Rs 30 lakh, deposited in the apex court registry by the organisers of the Consumer Electronic fair where the accident had occured, among the victims' families on "pro rata" basis.
"Though we are sending the matter to the state for its view, yet the amount of Rs 30 lakh that has been deposited by Respondent Nos. 10 to 12 before this court shall be sent to the District Judge, Meerut for pro rata distribution.
"When we say pro rata distribution, it means the amount that has been given by the Central Government and the State Government to the deceased, the amount shall be disbursed in proportion and similarly the amount that has been given to the people who have suffered injuries, grievous or simple, the pro rata sum shall be distributed," the bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and Mohan M Shantanagoudar, said.
The bench granted 10 weeks to Uttar Pradesh government to apprise it of the views on the report of the Justice S B Sinha Commission which was set up by the apex court on July 31, 2014 to probe the 2006 Meerut fire tragedy.
"Objections filed by respondent nos 10 to 12 (organisers of the event) shall also be handed over to Ravi Prakash Mehrotra (counsel of UP). The state, upon perusal of the report of Justice Sinha as well as objections filed thereto by the respondents, shall file an affidavit with regard to its view and the action it intends to take," it said.
The court made clear the disbursal of money, deposited by organisers, to victims' families would be subject to outcome of the proceedings and if organisers are exonerated then the government will pay back them the money.
The bench had directed the UP government to pay a compensation of Rs five lakh in addition to Rs three lakh already paid to each to the family members of the deceased.
It had also directed the state government to pay Rs 2 lakh to the seriously injured and Rs 75,000 to persons who suffered minor injury in the incident which took place on April 10, 2006.
"We direct, as an interim measure, that the legal representatives of the deceased shall be paid Rs five lakhs more and the seriously injured persons would be paid a further sum of Rs two lakhs each and the persons who have suffered minor injuries would be paid an additional sum of Rs 75,000," it had said.
It had directed the government to deposit the amount before the District Judge, Meerut, within two months who may nominate an Additional District Judge, on making summary enquiry, shall pay the amount to the legal representatives and the victims within one month from the date of deposit.
It had passed the order on a petition filed by one Sanjay Gupta who had lost five of his family members in the incident.
He had pleaded that the administration had demonstrated utterly callous attitude and even the bodies of the victims were allegedly bulldozed at the instance of the top officials of the district administration including the then District Magistrate.
The bench had also directed the organiser of the consumer electronic fair to pay Rs 30 lakh with the Supreme Court registry in order to hear its plea challenging the maintainability of Gupta's plea.
The state government had earlier appointed Justice O P Garg, a former Judge of Allahabad High Court, as one-man Commission to inquire into the incident but its findings were opposed by the organisers saying that they were not heard.
They had contended that no opportunity was given to them to cross-examine the witnesses though they are directly affected by the said inquiry and the findings recorded by the Commission.
Accepting their plea, the apex court appointed the Justice Sinha panel which submitted its report on June 29, 2015 to this court.
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