SC to hear petition on Orissa killings on Oct 16

NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court on October 16 will hear the plea seeking direction to find out which organisations are behind the recent killings of Christians in Orissa. The court will also hear the plea seeking a CBI probe into the communal violence in Kandhamal district.

A bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Aftab Alam on Monday has fixed October 16 to hear the matter. Senior Counsel Collin Gonsalves appearing for petitioner Archbishop, Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack said, the situation in the state has again turned grim which requires immediate intervention of the court.

Mr Gonsalves sought intervention of the court to find out the truth behind the organised killings of the Christian community in the state. It is essential to find out which organisations are behind such killings, said Mr Gonsalves. Mr Gonsalves sought permission of the court to file an additional ap-plication seeking such plea.

The court granting permission posted the matter for hearing on Thurs-day. The Archbishop in his petition claimed that the attack on churches and other properties belonging to the community was a well orchestrated conspiracy and pleaded that the National Human Rights Commission be asked to conduct a probe to find out which organisation was behind the Kandhamal violence.

Giving details of the damage and loss of property, the petition said Orissa government has failed to protect the life and property of the community and the measures taken by it, including the compensation announced for the affected families, were not enough.

The petition also sought a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the families of those killed in the violence, Rs 4 lakh for those whose houses were destroyed, Rs 2 lakh for those whose houses were damaged partially and Rs 1 lakh for those injured. It also sought Rs 3 crore as compensation for the damage caused to churches.