1. The petitioner herein has challenged the order dated 09.01.2009 passed by the District Collector and the order dated 07.03.2009 passed by the Secretary, Revenue Department, Gandhinagar whereby the application preferred by the petitioner for compensation was rejected.
2. It is the case of the petitioner that pursuant to the Godhra train incident, a communal riot erupted wherein the petitioner received 15% burns and was treated at a Government hospital. It is the case of the petitioner that as per the policy of the State of Gujarat enumerated in Government Resolutions dated 04.03.2002 and 30.04.2002 persons including Government employees were entitled to receive compensation. Accordingly, the case of the petitioner was recommended by the Mamlatdar to the District Collector, Surendranagar who refused to compensate the petitioner on the ground that the application was preferred by the petitioner after a lapse of six years. The appellate authority upheld the view of the District Collector and thereby rejected the appeal accordingly.
3. Mr Sen, learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submitted that the Government Resolutions dated 04.03.2002 and 30.04.2002 do not prescribe any time limit for claiming compensation and hence the order dated 09.01.2009 is contrary to the resolutions. He submitted that other similarly placed police persons have got compensation and injustice was done only to the petitioner. He submitted that when the petitioner came to know about the resolutions from his colleagues, he immediately applied for the compensation.
4. Mr J.K. Shah, learned AGP appearing for the respondents submitted that the present petition is not maintainable in law and deserves to be dismissed in limine. He has drawn the attention of this Court to the affidavit-in- reply filed by the respondent and submitted that the application for compensation was filed by the petitioner after six years of the riots which is very late. He submitted that there has been no plausible explanation from the petitioner on this ground of delay except that he was not aware about the resolutions.
5. It is clear that the petitioner was working in the police department, Limdi, Surendranagar when on 28.02.2002 the Godhra train carnage happened. The petitioner also sustained injuries while discharging his duties. From a perusal of the affidavit in reply, more particularly, para 6 it is clear that reimbursement of the medical bill of Rs. 11345/- was made to the petitioner. Government Resolution dated 09.01.2009 mentions therein that only those persons who had earlier received compensation shall be entitled to enhancement of the compensation. It is also mentioned therein that the compensation shall be given only in those cases where the State Government had already been paid the compensation. The present petitioner had not sought for any compensation at the relevant point of time and only after the introduction of Government Resolution dated 09.01.2009 the compensation was sought. The application for compensation was made after a period of around six years which is very late.
5.1 Ex-gatia payments are required to be claimed on time in order to meet the crisis. Normally, such claims should be done within a period of one year from the date of such resolutions. Even if the period of limitation is considered, three years can be taken into account. However, in the present case the petitioner was asleep for almost more than six years. The explanation that the petitioner was not aware about the resolutions does not seem to be plausible. This court does not see any infirmity or error apparent in the order of the authorities rejecting the application of the petitioner for compensation. The petitioner has already been reimbursed the medical bills. Petition is devoid of any merits and is, therefore, accordingly dismissed. Notice is discharged.
(K.S.
JHAVERI, J.) Divya// Top