Karnataka HC appoints retired judge to assess damage caused by Bengaluru riots

Bengaluru, 29 August 2020 [Fik/News Sources]: The Karnataka High Court, on Friday, appointed Justice (retired) HS Kempanna, a retired judge of the same HC, as the Claims Commissioner to assess damage to public and private properties as a result of the August 11 Bengaluru riots. 

Justice (retd) Kempanna had worked 17 years as a District and Sessions Judge for 17 years before being appointed as an additional judge in the HC in 2010. He had earlier led a one-man commission which probed the Arkavathy Layout denotification case against former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in 2014. The commission had submitted its report to the government in 2017. During that time the BJP had criticised the commission’s functioning calling it a sham as it never called either Siddaramaiah, the then CM or the then Leader of Opposition Jagadish Shettar.

As widely reported, Bengaluru witnessed an incident of mob violence in DJ Halli and KG Halli Police Station limits on August 11 over a provocative and communally-charged social media post. As a result of the arson, the house of one city MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy and the DJ Halli police station was partially gutted. Many vehicles were burnt among other damages to property. Incidentally, it was the MLA’s nephew Naveen who made the provocative post. He is also among the arrested. 

Already the state government has directed a magisterial probe by  Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner G N Shivamurthy. On the other hand the Central Crime Branch is leading the probe and have made the arrests.

More than 300 people have been arrested in connection with the case and a total of 52 FIRs (first information report) was registered. Among the bigwigs who have been nabbed by police are from the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Muzammil Pasha and Kaleem Pasha, the husband of a Congress corporator Irshad Begum.

Three persons died of bullet injuries as police resorted to open fire to contain the escalating violence. A fourth person who was arrested by police in connection with the riots had also died due to complications of a preexisting health condition. 

The retired judge will investigate liability of the arsonists and award compensation to victims, the HC on Friday said. 

This comes after the state government on August 17 approached the HC bench  headed by Chief Justice Abhay Oka for the same purpose. The government had been vocal about recovering the costs of the damages from the rioters. Among other charges of arson, the Central Crime Branch of police had invoked provisions of stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).