Haryana MPs, MLAs may have to pay Rs 340 crore each for Jat stir damages

CHANDIGARH: All the 90 MLAs and 10 Lok Sabha MPs of Haryana could well be asked to pay Rs 340 crore each for damage to public and private property during February’s reservation riots in the state. That is, of course, if a local court in Rewari accepts the contentions of a case filed by an angry resident who believes that the riots were a result of the failure of the lawmakers in doing their job.

Taking cognizance of the petition demanding recovery of an estimated Rs 34,000 crore for losses to the state in the riots, a civil judge (senior division) has issued summonses to all the lawmakers. They are expected to file their replies by July 24. This lawmakers who have been summoned include Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and two Union ministers of state, Krishan Pal Gujjar and Rao Inderjit Singh.

The main grouse of the petitioner Satbir Singh, a residentof Naya Gaon village in Rewari, is that he couldn’t visit his ailing wife in a hospital in Delhi because the entire transport system of Haryana, and the highways passing through the state, were paralysed between February 17 and 22. He has demanded Rs 1 lakh as compensation from the legislators for mental and physical harassment. He has also asked the court to bar all sitting Haryana legislators from contesting elections for life because they failed to discharge their duty and control the violence.

He has also asked the court to bar all sitting Haryana legislators from contesting elections for life because they failed to discharge their duty and control the violence.

The petition says that all MLAs and MPs as public servants are responsible for maintaining law and order, protecting public and private property and ensuring peace in the state. It alleges that many of them had divided the state in the name of caste and community. “Many law makers instigated the agitation through their inflammatory speeches in the name of caste/community causing loss of property and 19 human lives,” Singh has argued in the petition.

“We are exploring legal options to respond to the summonses,” said Perminder Singh Dhull, INLD MLA from Julana.

The petition was filed on February 26 and the MLAs and MPs were to file their replies on May 30. However, after the lawmakers did not respond to the petition, the court fixed July 24 as the date for the next hearing. Besides the MLAs and MPs, the Army chief, Union home ministry and the Haryana DGP have also been asked to file replies.