STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court directed the state government to pay Rs. 5 lakhs as compensation, under its ex gratia compensation scheme, to the daughter of a man who was killed by the police when he was participating in the Assam Movement on November 30, 1981.
Notably, the claim for compensation was initially refused on the ground that the said amount had been already disbursed to the brother of the deceased man.
The single-judge bench of Justice Devashis Baruah observed that the ex gratia amount was paid by the respondent authorities (Government of Assam's Assam Accord Implementation Department), on its own accord, without the next of kin certificate being produced by the brother Khagen Saikia (respondent No. 4) of the deceased martyr, Loknath Saikia.
The fact of the matter is that the petitioner is the daughter of Late Loknath Saikia, who was killed by the police when he was participating in the Assam movement on November 30, 1981.
The petitioner, on coming to learn about the said ex gratia compensation scheme of the Government of Assam, applied for the said compensation of Rs. 5 lakh, but it was refused on the ground that the said amount had already been disbursed to Respondent No. 4, Khagen Saikia, who was the brother of Late Loknath Saikia.
The petitioner then proceeded to file the present writ petition (WP(C)/7080/2017) and enclosed the certificate issued by the Additional Deputy Magistrate, Nagaon, dated August 13, 2017, which certified that her father was killed in connection with the Assam Movement on November 30, 1981, and that she was the daughter of Late Loknath Saikia.
In its affidavit, the state government submitted that the said compensation of Rs. 5 lakh was paid to Khagen Saikia on the basis of a report dated November 25, 2016 received from the Deputy Commissioner, Nagaon. It was further submitted that, since the amount of ex gratia was already paid to the brother Khagen Saikia, the question of payment to another beneficiary did not arise.
It was also mentioned that in order to pay tribute to the martyrs who sacrificed their life during the Assam movement, "Shraddhanjali Programme" was organized centrally by the Implementation of the Assam Accord Department, Government of Assam on December 10, 2016 at Khanapara Veterinary College Ground to honour the families of the martyrs and extend financial assistance to them.
Accordingly, the Principal Secretary, Government of Assam, Implementation of Assam Accord Department, issued a letter to Khagen Saikia (Respondent No. 4) to attend the said meeting and Rs. 5 lakh was sanctioned in his favour as additional ex-gratia grant to the martyrs family. It was also mentioned that no next of kin certificate was issued in the name of the Respondent No. 4 by the district authorities as heirs of Late Loknath Saikia.
This Court enquired with the counsels appearing on behalf of the respondent department, as to on what basis the ex-gratia amount is paid. It was submitted at the bar by the said counsels that the said ex-gratia amount was paid on the basis of the next of the kin certificate issued by the Office of the Deputy Commissioner.
However, the court said the petitioner was entitled to the said amount, being admittedly the daughter of Late Loknath Saikia, and that the respondent authorities cannot deprive the petitioner of the grant of ex-gratia amount of Rs. 5 lakh on account of their fault of disbursing the said amount wrongfully to the Respondent No. 4.
"From the above materials on record, it therefore, transpires that the Petitioner is the next of kin of Late Loknath Saikia is not in dispute and this very aspect of the matter was also brought to the attention of the authorities concerned by the Deputy Commissioner, Nagaon as far back as on December 27, 2016," the court observed.
Accordingly, the court directed the State Government to appropriate steps so that the amount of Rs. 5 lakh is disbursed to the petitioner within a period of 60 days.
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