# MOHD. HAROON & ORS v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR

- **Citation:** [2014] 4 S.C.R. 907
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 2014-03-26
- **Bench:** P. Sathasivam Cji, Ranjana Prakash Desai, RANJAN GOGOi
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/mohd-haroon-ors-v-union-of-india-anr-29955
- **Pages:** 81

## Headnote

RIOTS:
Muzaffarnagar riots - Communal tension wrecking lives
of a large number of people - Writ petitions seeking for an
inclusive protection for each victim whose fundamental rights
have been infringed in the said riot - Held: When the incidents
A
B
c
of communal disturbance flared up, it was expected by the 0
State intelligence agencies to apprise the State Government
and the District Administration in particular, to prevent such
communal violence - Prima facie, the State government is
responsible for being negligent at the initial stage in not
anticipating the communal violence and for taking necessary E
steps for its prevention - In these matters, from time to time
various interim orders have been passed by the Supreme
Court for monitoring the situation at the place of incident - On
directions of the Supreme Court, the State Government has
made arrangements in relief camps for medical facilities,
sanitation, tents, items of daily use, cloths, financial assistance
F
to the wounded and the families of deceased persons and for
their resettlement and rehabilitation - State Government is
also directed to pay compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs for
rehabilitation of victims of rape - Sincere efforts shall be made
to apprehend all the accused of murders irrespective of G
political affiliation and produce them before the appropriate
court - State is directed to identify the left out injured persons
(simple/grievous}, next kin of the deceased who died in the
communal violence and settle the compensation - It is the
907
H
908
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014] 4 S.C.R.
A
responsibility of the State Administration in association with
the intelligence agencies of both State and Centre to prevent
such recurrence of communal violence in any part of the State
- The officers responsible for maintaining law and order, if
found negligent, should be brought under the ambit of law
B
irrespective of their status - The relief, not only be provided
to all needy families irrespective of their religion but it should
a/so be provided to only genuinely affected families.
Muzaffarnagar riots - Communal riots - Incidents of rapes
C - Government directed to formulate and implement policies
in order to uplift socio-economic conditions of women and
sensitization of society and police force - Victims to be paid
compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs in addition to various benefits -
Crime against women.
D
INVEST/GA T/ONllNQUIRY:
Muzaffarnagar riots - Communal violence wrecking Jives
of large number of people - Brutal murders, rapes and large
scale migration taken place - Writ petition under Article 32 -
E Prayer for transfer of investigation to CBI or SIT - Held: Such
an order cannot be passed as a matter of routine or merely
when some a/legations are leveled against the local police -
This extraordinary power must be exercised sparingly,
cautiously and in exceptional situations where it becomes
F
necessary to provide credibility and instill confidence in
investigation - Based on various interim orders in the instant
writ petitions, the State Government had constituted a Specia/-
1 nvestigation Cell (SIC) - Details furnished by the State
showed that after constitution of SIC, it inquired about all those
persons who had fled from their villages and had taken refuge
G in various relief camps and noted their problems by taking
list of such persons staying in camps - In the light of steps
taken by State, there is no need to either constitute SIT or
entrust investigation to the CBI.
H
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 909
CRIME AGAINST WOMEN:
Victim Compensation in Rape Cases - Held: No
compensation can l)e adequate nor can it be of any respite
A
for the victims but since it is on account of failure of the State
that such incidents take place, the State is duty bound to
8
provide compensation, which may help in victims'
rehabilitation - In 2009, a new s.357A was introduced in the
Code which casted a responsibility on the State Governments
to formulate Schemes for compensat

## Text

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[2014] 4 S.C.R. 907
MOHD. HAROON & ORS.
v.
UNION OF INDIA & ANR.
(Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 155 of 2013)
MARCH 26, 2014
[P. SATHASIVAM CJI., RANJANA PRAKASH DESAI
AND RANJAN GOGOi , JJ.]
RIOTS:
Muzaffarnagar riots - Communal tension wrecking lives
of a large number of people - Writ petitions seeking for an
inclusive protection for each victim whose fundamental rights
have been infringed in the said riot - Held: When the incidents
A
B
c
of communal disturbance flared up, it was expected by the 0
State intelligence agencies to apprise the State Government
and the District Administration in particular, to prevent such
communal violence - Prima facie, the State government is
responsible for being negligent at the initial stage in not
anticipating the communal violence and for taking necessary E
steps for its prevention - In these matters, from time to time
various interim orders have been passed by the Supreme
Court for monitoring the situation at the place of incident - On
directions of the Supreme Court, the State Government has
made arrangements in relief camps for medical facilities,
sanitation, tents, items of daily use, cloths, financial assistance
F
to the wounded and the families of deceased persons and for
their resettlement and rehabilitation - State Government is
also directed to pay compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs for
rehabilitation of victims of rape - Sincere efforts shall be made
to apprehend all the accused of murders irrespective of G
political affiliation and produce them before the appropriate
court - State is directed to identify the left out injured persons
(simple/grievous}, next kin of the deceased who died in the
communal violence and settle the compensation - It is the
907
H
908
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014] 4 S.C.R.
A
responsibility of the State Administration in association with
the intelligence agencies of both State and Centre to prevent
such recurrence of communal violence in any part of the State
- The officers responsible for maintaining law and order, if
found negligent, should be brought under the ambit of law
B
irrespective of their status - The relief, not only be provided
to all needy families irrespective of their religion but it should
a/so be provided to only genuinely affected families.
Muzaffarnagar riots - Communal riots - Incidents of rapes
C - Government directed to formulate and implement policies
in order to uplift socio-economic conditions of women and
sensitization of society and police force - Victims to be paid
compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs in addition to various benefits -
Crime against women.
D
INVEST/GA T/ONllNQUIRY:
Muzaffarnagar riots - Communal violence wrecking Jives
of large number of people - Brutal murders, rapes and large
scale migration taken place - Writ petition under Article 32 -
E Prayer for transfer of investigation to CBI or SIT - Held: Such
an order cannot be passed as a matter of routine or merely
when some a/legations are leveled against the local police -
This extraordinary power must be exercised sparingly,
cautiously and in exceptional situations where it becomes
F
necessary to provide credibility and instill confidence in
investigation - Based on various interim orders in the instant
writ petitions, the State Government had constituted a Specia/-
1 nvestigation Cell (SIC) - Details furnished by the State
showed that after constitution of SIC, it inquired about all those
persons who had fled from their villages and had taken refuge
G in various relief camps and noted their problems by taking
list of such persons staying in camps - In the light of steps
taken by State, there is no need to either constitute SIT or
entrust investigation to the CBI.
H
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 909
CRIME AGAINST WOMEN:
Victim Compensation in Rape Cases - Held: No
compensation can l)e adequate nor can it be of any respite
A
for the victims but since it is on account of failure of the State
that such incidents take place, the State is duty bound to
8
provide compensation, which may help in victims'
rehabilitation - In 2009, a new s.357A was introduced in the
Code which casted a responsibility on the State Governments
to formulate Schemes for compensation to the victims of
crime in coordination with the Central Government whereas,
C
previously, s.357 ruled the field which was not mandatory in
nature and only the offender could be directed to pay
compensation to the victim under this Section - Under the
new s. 357 A, the onus is put on the District Legal Service
Authority or State Legal Service Authority to determine the
quantum of compensation in each case.
D
CONSTITUTION OF IND/A, 1950:
Articles 32, 226 - Scope of - Held: Despite wide powers
conferred by Articles 32 and 226, while passing any order, the
Courts must bear in mind certain self-imposed limitations on
the exercise of these constitutional powers - The very
plenitude of the power under the said articles requires great
caution in its exercise - Insofar as the question of issuing a
direction to CBI to conduct investigation in a case is
concerned, although no inflexible guidelines can be laid down
E
F
to decide whether or not such power should be exercised but
such an order is not to be passed as a matter of routine or
merely because a party has levelled some a/legations
against the local police - This extraordinary power must be
exercised sparingly, cautiously and in exceptional situations
G
where it becomes necessary to provide credibility and instill
confidence in investigations or where the incident may have
national and international ramifications or where such an order
may be necessary for doing complete justice and enforcing
the fundamental rights - Otherwise CBI would be flooded with
H
910
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014] 4 S.C.R.
A a large number of cases and with limited resources, may find
it difficult to properly investigate even serious cases and in
the process lose its credibility and purpose with unsatisfactory
investigations.
8
An incident of violence took place on 27.08.2013
between two communities in Muzaffarnagar in which
three youths were killed from both the sides. On
07.09.2013, a Mahapanchayat was organized by the Jat
community to oppose the said incident. Thereafter
communal riot erupted in Muzaffarnagar and its adjoining
C rural areas.
Several writ petitions were filed under Article 32
seeking for an inclusive protection for each victim whose
fundamental rights have been infringed in the said riot and
D for seeking direction to the State and Central Government
to provide adequate security forces to take all necessary
measures to stop the genocide and to prevent further
communal violence; to order a CBI inquiry into the whole
incident; to constitute Special Investigation Team (SIT)
E headed by impartial experts of criminal investigation from
the States other than Uttar Pradesh to investigate the
incidents; to ensure proper and adequate rehabilitation
of the victims whose houses have been burnt, properties
got damaged and to provide immediate temporary
F shelters/transit camps, food and clothing; to issue
direction to lodge FIR against all persons including the
government officials who were responsible for failure to
maintain the law and order within time; to direct to pay
ex-gratia relief of Rs. 25,00,000/- each to the kin of the
G deceased and Rs. 5,00,000/- each to the injured from the
Prime Minister's Relief Fund as well as from the corpus
of the State Government; to direct the State Government
to take stern action against the persons responsible for
rape and other heinous offences and also to provide
H rehabilitation of the victims and to appoint an
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 911
independent Commission apart from the one constituted A
by the State Government for impartial inquiry into the
incidents.
The grievances of the petitioners was that in the
remote villages more than 40,000 persons have migrated
under threat; that many thousand persons including B
infants, children, women and elderly were without food
and shelter in various villages and no faciliti~~ were being
made available by the administration;/ that on the
pressure of the other groups, innocent psrsons were
being picked up and named in FIR without conducting C
any inquiry and are being arrested for none of their faults
and the State has failed in its duty to ensure the security
in the area; and that the failure on part of State Police has
resulted in several rapes during the said communal riots.
Disposing of the writ petitions, contempt petitions, D
Transferred case, transfer petition, special leave petition,
the Court
HELD: 1.1. From time to time during hearing of the
petitions, various interim orders were passed for
monitoring the situation at the place of incident. Because E
of various directions of this Court, the State Government
initiated active investigation, relief measures, both in the
camps as well as in shelter homes and provided more
provisions for food, clothes and medicines etc., which is
highlighted in the eleven Compliance Reports filed before
F
this Court over the period of time. The State and Central
Government made arrangements for relief camps. A total
number of 58 camps were made functional, of which, 41
such camps were established in District Muzaffarnagar
and 17 camps in District Shamli. Medical ambulances G
with all modern facilities were deployed for a!I the camps.
Medical and paramedical staff was deployed at all the
camps to regularly conduct medical checkup in the
camps. In order to ensure proper sanitation arJ,d
cleanliness, five sweepers were deployed for each camp.
H
912
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014] 4 S.C.R.
A
To avoid epidemic, spray of pesticides and other
chemicals was ensufed. To kill mosquitoes, fogging was
carried out near relief camp at Jaula. Safe and clean
drinking water was also supplied through piped water
supply schemes, permanent tubewells installed at the
B camp sites, India Marked-II hand pumps and water
tankers from the urban local bodies situated near the
camps. Chlorine tablets were distributed in all the camps.
Though most of the camps were situated in pucca
buildings like Madarsas and Schools, makeshift tents
C were also erected in 15 camps to provide shed and
shelter. The displaced families could not bring any item
of daily use with them, hence, two steel plates, two steel
glasses, one medium size dari, two bed sheets, one
bucket, one mug, one towel, milk powder, biscuit packets
were provided to each and every family in the camps.
o. Clothes to women and children were also distributed in
camps. In addition to that, two toilet soaps, two washing
soaps, one tooth paste and kerosene oil etc. were
provided to the families living in the camps. A large
number of villagers fled from their houses out of fear
E
leaving behind their cattle and animals. The Animal
Husbandry Department was directed to provide fodder to
such cattle with the help of voluntary organizations.
[Paras 29, 30) [940-E-F, G-H, 941-A, 942-G-H, 943-A, 944G-H; 945-A-E, G)
F
1.2. Financial Assistance has been also given by
Government of Uttar Pradesh to the wounded and the
families of deceased persons. Financial Assistance has
been also given by Government of India to the wounded
and the families of deceased persons. The State
G Government decided to give employment to one member
of the family of the deceased persons according to his
or her qualification. Confidence buildings measures were
taken. Meetings with important and effective persons
from both the communities were organized in which one
H
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 913
community had ass1:1red the safety and security of the A
other. Peace Committees were constituted and their
meetings were organized at the Block, Tehsil and District
levels. Senior officers like District Magistrate,
Superintendent of Police, ADM, ASP, SOM, Circle Officer
and other functionaries from the Revenue and police B
departments participated along with the Village Pradhans
and important public persons from all the communities.
Teams of officers were sent from Districts of Meerut and
Baghpat to convince and take the persons living in the
camps who belonged to the villages of these districts. To c
ensure the safety and building a feeling of confidence
among those returning to the villages, para-miliatry forces
were deployed in those villages. Families displaced from
6 villages in Muzaffarnagar, i.e., Fugana, Kutaba, Kutbi,
Kakda, Mohammadpur Raisingh and Mundbhar and 3 0
villages in Sham Ii, i.e., Lisadh, Lank and Bahavadi have not
agreed to return to their native villages even after
confidence building measures and serious persuasion.
/
Their decision was found to be justified largely based on
the fear emanating from the kind of incidents of murders
and arson that had happened in these villages during the
E
violence that broke out on 7th and 8th September, 2013.
The State Government, by its order dated 26.10.201. 3, has
decided to give a lumpsum grant of Rs. 5 lacs per family
for their resettlement and rehabilitation. In addition to this,
13 families in Muzaffarnagar have been given part payment F
of Rs.2 lacs each incurring Rs.26 lacs. Thus, 1644 families
have been paid till date and an amount of Rs.81.81 crores
has been spent for their resettlement and rehabilitation.
Assessment was done for damage to the uninsured
movable and immovable property during the riots. Efforts G
were made to assess the loss by a team of qualified
persons in the presence of victims. Photography and
videography was also done during the process. A total
amount of Rs. 349.44 lacs has been paid as compensation
for the loss of uninsured movable and immovable property H
914
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014] 4 S.C.R.
A
loss in 3 districts. By G.O. dated 18.02.2014 issued by the
Home Secretary, Government of U.P., it has been decided
that the State Government would provide further
compensation of Rs. 3 lakhs in addition to the
compensation already provided to the relatives of the
B deceased and a compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs to the
parents of the deceased children below 5 years of age who
died in the relief camps. [Para 30-32] [946-A, 948-C, H, 949F-H, 950-A, F-G, 951-E-G, 952-C, G, 953-B-C]
2. Regarding the stand of the petitioners that many
C false accused were shown as culprits, the State has filed
a detailed note wherein it was stated that a total number
of 566 cases were being investigated by the Special
Investigation Cell (SIC) and it was found that many cases
were false and many persons have been wrongly named
o in FIRs. The State pointed out that names of all such
persons, viz., 549 persons, have been removed. Till now,
48 registered cases have been found false and the same
were either expunged or removed. Names of 69 persons
in murder cases have been found false and their names
E
F
have been removed from the accused list. In addition to
the above information, the State has furnished a list of
accused found false which contains 516 persons from
Hindu community and 33 from Muslim, i.e., a total number
of 549 persons. The State has also furnished a list of
expunged cases and the persons who were wrongly
included. It was also observed that many persons were
named in more than one case and a calculation of all
these revealed that 3803 persons were named. Till date,
984 persons have been declared accused in investigated
G cases. Rest of the cases are under investigation. 337
accused have been arrested and 61 persons have
surrendered before the Court. 374 Non-Bailable Warrants,
195 warrants under Section 82 of the Code and 3 kurki
(attachment) warrants of Section 83 of the Code have
been issued. Charge-sheet has been filed against 238
H accused and Closure Reports have been given against
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 915
102 persons. [Paras 35, 36] [954-C-F; 955-B-C]
3. Regarding arrest and follow-up actions, the State
has filed a list of arrested persons in communal violence
A
in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas. The list showed
the names of 308 arrested persons in the Districts of 8
Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. The State has furnished the
names and addresses of arrested accused, the date on
which they were arrested, offences under various
enactments, crime number, police station, nature of the
offence, district, etc. The State has also indicated the C
religion of the accused just to show that actions were
being taken irrespective of the caste, community or
religion. [Para 39] [956-G-H; 957-A]
4.1 Despite wide powers conferred by Articles 32 and
226 of the Constitution, while passing any order, the D
Courts must bear in mind certain self-imposed limitations
on the exercise of these constitutional powers. The very
plenitude of the power under the said articles requires
great caution in its exercise. Insofar as the question of
issuing a direction to CBI to conduct investigation in a E
case is concerned, although no inflexible guidelines can
be laid down to decide whether or not such power
should be exercised but time and again it has been
reiterated that such an order is not to be passed as a
matter of routine or merely because a party has levelled
F
some allegations against the local police. This
extraordinary power must be exercised sparingly,
cautiously and in exceptional situations where it
becomes necessary to provide credibility and instill
confidence in investigations or where the incident may
have national and international ramifications or where G
such an order may be necessary for doing complete
justice and enforcing the fundamental rights. Otherwise
CBI would be flooded with a large number of cases and
with limited resources, may find it difficult to properly
H
916
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014] 4 S.C.R.
A
investigate even serious cases and in the process lose
its credibility and purpose with unsatisfactory
investigations. [Para 75] [977-C-G]
Common Cause, A Registered Society vs. Union of India
B
and Ors. (1999) 6 SCC 667: 1999 (3) SCR 1279; Secretary,
Minor Irrigation & Rural Engineering Services UP. and Ors.
vs. Sahngoo Ram Arya and Anr. (2002) 5 SCC 521; State of
West Bengal and Ors. vs. Committee for Protection of
Democratic Rights, West Bengal and Ors. (2010) 3 SCC 571 :
C 2010 (2) SCR 979 - reiied on.
4.2 It is not in dispute that subsequent to the incident
that took place on 07.09.2013 and afterwards, in and
around Muzaffarnagar, a large number of persons,
particularly, villagers from within and neighbouring
D districts, fled from their homes out of fear and took shelter
in relief camps in various villages of two districts of
Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. It is also seen that total 58
camps were made functional of which 41 camps were
established in the district Muzaffarnagar and 17 in the
E
district Shamli. The incidents of communal disturbance
flared up sometimes on flimsy grounds blaming one
community to other. Whatever may be, after the
Mahapanchayat that took place on 07.09.2013, certain
incidents such as eve teasing of other community girls
F
followed by murders had taken place. Further, inasmuch
as thousands of people gathered at a particular place in
order to take revenge or retaliate, it was expected 'by the
State intelligence agencies to apprise the State
Government and the District Administration in particular,
G to prevent such communal violence. Though the Central
Government even on day one informed this Court that all
necessary help, both financially and for maintaining law
and order, had been provided to the State, there is no
authoritative information to this Court whether there was
any advance intimation to the State about the communal
H
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 917
violence. Likewise, though the State has enumerated
several aspects in the form of eleven compliance reports,
there was no information to this Court whether the
District Administration was sounded about the proposed
action between the two communities. Had the Central and
State intelligence agencies smelt these problems in
advance and alerted the District Administration, the
unfortunate incidents could have been prevented. Thus,
prima facie, the State government is responsible for being
negligent at the initial stage in not anticipating the
communal violence and for taking necessary steps for its
prevention. [Paras 78 and 79] [978-F-H; 979-A-D]
5. Based on various orders of this Court, even after
the incident, the State itself has constituted a Special
Investigation Cell (SIC). A total of 566 cases are being
·· investigated by the SIC and after noting that many cases
were false and many persons were wrongly named in the
FIRs, 549 names have been removed. A total of 48
registered cases have been found false and have been
removed from the records. Names of 69 persons in
murder cases have been found false and those names
have also been removed from the array of parties. The
details furnished by the State also showed that after
constitution of the SIC in September, it inquired about all
those persons who had fled from their villages and had
taken refuge in various relief camps and noted their
problems by taking list of such persons staying in camps
and getting their mobile numbers. The SIC also recorded
the statements of the complainants and witnesses. SIC
also noted community-wise affiliation of their political
parties etc. [Para 81] [980-C-F, H; 981-A]
6. In respect of cases of rape, the State has assured
this Court that they are taking effective steps to
apprehend all the accused and in providing security
cover to the rape victims. 50 teams of police personnel
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
918
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014) 4 S.C.R.
A have been constituted in order to arrest the accused
persons in rape and other cases. The State has also filed
details and progress of rape and molestation cases,
statement of rape victims under Section 164 of the Code
etc. action had been taken against 11 persons under the
B provisions of the National Security Act as well as
persons belonging to various political parties. The State
has also furnished the details regarding 24 missing
persons out of which 3 have been traced and is taking
effective steps for tracing the remaining missing persons.
c In respect of murder cases, the State has filed a separate
chart showing the list of accused persons, verification of
persons concerned who were involved, list of
surrendered accused in murder cases as well as various
other steps for apprehending the remaining accused. The
D State has also highlighted t.tiat through their public
prosecutors/ counsel, it is taking effective steps for
cancellation of bail in those heinous crimes in which
persons involved have secured bail. In the light of various
steps taken by the State, facts and figures, stattstics
supported by materials, there is no need to either
E constitute SIT or entrust the investigation to the CBI at
this juncture. However, more effective and stringent
measures are to be taken by the State administration.
[Para 82 to 85] [981-A-G]
F Directions:
7.1. Victim Compensation in Rape Cases: As a long
term measure to curb such crimes, a large societal
change is required via education and awareness. The
Government will have to formulate and implement policies
G in order to uplift the socio-economic conditions of
women, sensitization of police and other concerned
parties towards the need for gender equality and it must
be done with focus in areas where statistically there is
higher percentage of crimes against women. No
H compensation can be adequate nor can it be of any
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 919
respite for the victims but as the State has failed in A
protecting such serious violation of fundamental rights,
the State is duty bound to provide compensation, which
may help in victims' rehabilitation. The humiliation or the
reputation that is snuffed out cannot be recompensed
but then monetary compensation will at least provide
B
some solace. In 2009, a new Section 357 A was
introduced in the Code which casted a responsibility on
the State Governments to formulate Schemes for
compensation to the victims of crime in coordination with
the Central Government whereas, previously, Section 357 c
ruled the field which was not mandatory in nature and
only the offender can be directed to pay compensation
to the victim under this Section. Under the new Section
357 A, the onus is put on the District Legal Service
Authority or State Legal Service Authority to determine 0
the quantum of compensation in each case. However, no
rigid formula can be evolved as to have a uniform
amount, it should vary in facts and circumstances of
each case. Nevertheless, the obligation of the State does
not extinguish on
payment of compensation,
rehabilitation of victim is also of paramount importance.
E
The mental trauma that the victim suffers due to the
commission of such heinous crime, rehabilitation
becomes a must in each and every case. Considering the
facts and circumstances of these cases, the victims in the
given case should be paid a compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs
F
each for rehabilitation by the State Government. The State
Government is directed to make payment of Rs. 5 lakhs,
in addition to various other benefits, within 4 weeks from
today. Further, according to Section 3578, the
compensation payable by the State Government under G
Section 357 A shall be in addition to the payment of fine
to the victim under Section 326A or Section 3760 of the
IPC. [Paras 86, 87, 88 and 89) [981-H; 982-A-G]
7.2. Directions relating to rape cases: The SIC is
H
920
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014] 4 S.C.R.
A
directed to arrest and produce before the Court all the
persons concerned in respect of petitioners in W.P. (Crl.)
No. 11 of 2014 as well as other affected victims within a
time-bound manner. They are also directed to record the
statement of the victims under Section 164 of the Code
B before a lady Magistrate even if they had made a
statement, if they desire to make additional statement, the
same may be recorded as requested. The security cover
provided to rape victims as shall continue till they desire
or completion of the trial whichever is later. The victims
C of rape are to be paid compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs each,
in addition to various other benefits, by the State
Government. The State is also directed to provide other
financial assistance as well as any other scheme
applicable to them for their betterment and to continue
0
their normal avocation. [Para 90] [983-D-H]
7.3. Directions regarding other offences including
murder: Sincere efforts shall be made to apprehend all
the accused irrespective of political affiliation and
produce them before the appropriate court. The
E
particulars furnished by the State in respect of criminal
action taken against political persons shall be continued
by placing acceptable materials before the court
concerned. The reason given by the State Police that
whenever efforts were made to arrest the persons
F
involved, women folk of their village form a human chain
and block the police in e.xecution of their work is
unacceptable and untenable. If there is reliable material
against a person irrespective of the community or
religion, the police have to take sincere efforts in arresting
G those persons and produce them before the court
concerned. There shall not be any let up and upon failure
on the part of the police, action will be taken against the
officers concerned. The victims or aggrieved persons are
free to move such application before the jurisdictional
H court. In respect of recovery of AK-47, 9 mm cartridges
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 921
in village Kirthal, the police have to identify the persons
A
concerned and proceed against them under the
provisions of IPC and Arms Act. The investigating
authorities should eschew communal bias and proceed
against all the offenders irrespective of their caste,
community and religion. In the case of murders, the police
B
must take sincere efforts to identify and arrest the real
culprits within a time-bound manner preferably within a
period of two months and report the same before the
jurisdictional court concerned. In heinous crimes,
including murder cases, if any of the real accused was c
granted bail, as assured before this Court, the District
Administration has to take effective steps for cancellation
of their bail in appropriate cases. As assured before this
Court, the persons concerned in the higher level to follow
the letters issued to various government counsel/police 0
officers/LO. for apprehending the real accused and rearresting the released persons by getting appropriate
orders from the court concerned. The authorities
concerned should continue to take effective steps to
locate the missing persons. [Para 90] [984-A-F, H; 985-AE
D]
7 .4. Financial Assistance/Rehabilitation measures:
Children who died in the violence as well as in the camps
due to cold weather conditions shall be compensated to
their parents as that of others. The State is directed to
F
identify the left ou~ injured persons (simple/grievous),
next kin of the deceased who died in the communal
violence and settle the compensation agreed to before
this Court (Rs. 10,00,000 + Rs. 3,00,000 + Rs. 2,00,000 =
Total Rs. 15,00,000). It is also directed to settle G
compensation for the damages caused to movable/
immovable properties of the person concerned due to the
violence if they have not already received the same. The
District Administration is also directed to implement Rani
Lakshmibai Pension Yojana to eligible persons and
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922
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014] 4 S.C.R.
A
consider the case of persons who were left out or who
have not made any such application till this date. Any of
the victims, if need arise, may also approach the District
Legal Services Authority and the DLSAs are directed to
provide necessary help to the victims. For any reason,
B after receipt of Rs. 5 lakhs those who want to settle to
other places than the place of occurrence after change
of mind and in order to join their relatives and friends in
the village/place where they lived at the time of violence,
are permitted to resettle, in that event, the State is directed
c not to recover the amount already paid. However, the
State is free to ascertain the genuineness of those
persons concerned in their effort to resettle in the same
place. The District Administration has to make all
endeavours for their peaceful return to the same place in
0
order to continue the same avocation along with their
relatives and friends. The officers who have grievance
about their transfer on vindictive ground from the district
concerned to far away places are free to make a
representation to the competent authority within a period
E of one month from today. If any such representation is
made and if the same is acceptable, the competent
authority is directed to take a fresh decision. Adequate
compensation should be paid to the farmers who lost
their source of livelihood, namely, tractors, catties,
sugarcane crops etc. In this category, the farmers who
F
were yet to get compensation for the same are permitted
to make a representation within one month from today
supported by materials to the local/district administration.
If any such representation is made, the same shall be
considered and disposed off within a period of one
G month thereafter. Finally, it is the responsibility of the
State Administration in association with the intelligence
agencies of both State and Centre to prevent such
recurrence of communal violence in any part of the State.
The officers responsible for maintaining law and order,
H if found negligent, should be brought under the ambit of
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 923
law irrespective of their status. It is important that the A
relief, not only be provided to all needy families
irrespective of their religion but it should also be
provided to only genuinely affected families. The affected
persons, if come across any impediment in implementing
the above directions, are permitted to highlight their s
grievance by filing application before this Court in the
above matters. It is made clear that only after exhaustion
of efforts with the District authorities concerned, they are
permitted to file such application in the above disposed
off matters. [Paras 90 arid 92] [985-E-H; 986-A-H; 987-A- c
D]
Case Law Reference:
1999 (3) SCR 1279
(2002) 5 sec 521
2010 (2) SCR 979
Relied on
Relied on
Relied on
Para 73
Para 74
Para 75
CRIMINAL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Under Article 32
of the Constitution of India.
Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 155 of 2013.
WITH
Writ Petition (Crl.) Nos. 158, 165, 170, 171, 179, 181196, 206
D
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of 2013,
F
Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 11 of 2014.
Contempt Petition (Crl.) No. of 2014 (01372) IN
Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 155 of 2013.
Transferred Case (Civil) Nos. 123, 124 and 125 of 2013,
Transfer Petition (Civil) Nos. 1750, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828,
1829, 1830 of 2013.
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014] 4 S.C.R.
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Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 35402 of 2013.
L. Nageshwar Rao, ASG, V. Shekhar, S.P. Singh, Colin
Gonsalves, Pinky Anand, K.T.S. Tulsi, Brijender Singh Chahar,
Jitender Mohan Sharma, Fakhruddin, Uday U. Lalit, Gaurav
8
Bhatia, lrshad Ahmad, AAGs, Santosh Kumar Tripathi,
Birendra Kumar Choudhary, Sanjay Malik, Suresh K. Sharma,
Ravi Shankar Kumar, Arun Kumar, Vishal Malik, Dr. Vinod
Kumar Tewari, Tariq Adeeb, Jyoti Mendiratta, Amiy Shukla,
Sanjay Kumar Tyagi, Dr. Vijendra Mahndiyan, Deepak Goel,
Pallavi Awasthi, Sanjay Parikh, Aparna Bhat, P. Ramesh
C
Kumar, Parul Kumari, Vidya, Gyan Kumar, Vishwa Pal Singh,
Nagendra Singh, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Vishwa Pal Singh, V.K.
Biju, Sanchit Garga, Tasneem Ahmadi, Shadan Farasat,
Gaurav Govinda, Ravi Prakash Mehrotra, Kamini Jaiswal,
Vrinda Grover, Abhimanu Shrestha, Shri Krishna Tiwari, Shilpi
D
Dey, Manohar Lal Sharma, Suman, Vipin Kumar Saxena, N.
Rajaraman, Aftab Ali Khan, Reshma Arif, M.Z. Chaudhary,
Zahid Hussain, Prashant Bhushan, Anoopam Prasad, Nizam
Pasha, B. Krishna Prasad, Ravi Prakash Mehrotra, Anuvrat
Sharma, Abhishek Choudhary, M.R. Shamshad, Garvesh
E
Kabra, Pawan Shree Agarwal, Raman Yadav, Vibhu Tiwari,
Abhinav Kumar, Sudeep Kumar, Ahmed S. Azhar, Pulkit
Manuja, Pahlad Singh Sharma, Vivek Gupta, Siddharth Mittal,
Varun Punia, Shweta Sirohi, Alok Shukla for the appearing
parties Raj Kumar Kaushik, Advo.-in-person.
F
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
P. SATHASIVAM, CJI. 1. These writ petitions and other
connected matters relate to the riots that broke out on the
fateful day of 07.09.2013. The riots erupted in and around
G
District Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh as a result of communal
tension prevailing in the city, which wrecked lives of a large
number of people who fled from their hsomes out of anxiety and
fear.
H
2. It is asserted in these petitions that the communal riot
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 925
[P. SATHASIVAM, CJI.]
erupted in Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and its adjoining rural areas A
after a Mahapanchayat which was organized by the Jat
community at Nagla Mandaur, 20 kms away from
Muzaffarnagar city on 07.09.2013. In the said Mahapanchayat,
over 1.5 lakh persons from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi
participated to oppose the incident which was occurred on
B
27.08.2013 in Kawai village under Jansath Tehsil of
Muzaffarnagar because of which violence broke out between
two communities and three youths were killed from both sides
in the wake of a trivial incident which had occurred earlier and
the whole incident was given a communal colour to incite c
passion.
3. It is the claim of the petitioners herein that the local
administration instead of enforcing the law allowed the
congregation not only to take place, negligently and perhaps
with certain amount of complicity, but also failed to monitor its D
proceedings. It is asserted in the petitions that since
27.08.2013 more than 200 Muslims have been brutally killed
and around 500 are still missing in the spurt of the incident in
50 villages of the Jat community dominated areas where the
Muslim community is in minority. It is the stand of the petitioners
E
that in the remote villages more than 40,000 persons have
migrated under threat and have been forcibly asked to move
out of the village otherwise they would be killed. It is further
alleged that many thousand persons including infants, children,
women and elderly are without food and shelter in various
F
villages, and no facilities are being rnade available by the
administration. Besides this, huge illegal and unauthorized arms
and ammunitions have been recovered in and around
Muzaffarnagar. It is also pointed out tnat the displaced persons
of all communities are compelled to live in shelter camps where G
adequate arrangements are becoming the problem of survival.
4. Consequently, several writ petitions, under Article 32 of
the Constitution, were filed by various individuals/Supreme
Court Bar Association/NGOs seeking for an inclusive protection
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B
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926
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2014] 4 S.C.R.
for each victim whose fundamental rights have been infringed
in the said riot by praying for numerous rehabilitative, protective
and preventive measures to be adhered to by both the State
and the Central Government.
5. There are various contra-allegations about the actual
occurrence and reasons attributed to the cause by different
community people. It is relevant to point out that an association
representing Jat community has also approached this Court ·
highlighting their stand. It is stated that on the pressure of the
other group, innocent persons are being picked up and are
being incorporated in the FIR without conducting any inquiry and
they are being arrested for none of their faults. Thus, it is the
stand of the petitioners in this petition that the State has failed
in its duty to ensure the security in the area.
6. It is also pointed out that the State Government
transferred the Jat community officers alone from the districts
of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli to other parts of the State. It is
their claim that in order to remove the apprehension from the
minds of the Jal community people, it is desirable either to
entrust the investigation to the CBI or to constitute SIT
comprising persons from outside the State of Uttar Pradesh.
They also predominantly prayed for registration of Fl Rs against
all culprits including powerful persons.
7. Similar petitions were also filed in the High Court of
Allahabad. In view of the similarity of the issues involved in these
petitions, viz., reasons for such ·violence, rehabilitation
measures, compensation for the loss of lives and properties,
action against offenders/culprits, all the matters pertaining to
the said incidents filed in the High Court of Allahabad were
G
directed to be transferred to this Court by order dated
19.09.2013.
Writ Petition pertaining to Rape Cases
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8. Serious allegations have been made against the State
MOHD. HAROON & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR. 927
[P. SATHASIVAM, CJI.]
Police for not providing adequate security to women which
A
resulted in several rapes being committed during the said
communal violence. The petition also highlights the inaction on
the part of State Police against the real culprits and the
indifferent attitude towards the victim's rehabilitation and
security.
B
9. Rape victims (Seven) filed Writ Petition (Criminal) No.
11 of 2014 for protection of their right to life under Article 21.
All the petitioners belong to the minority community who were
brutally gang raped and sexually assaulted by men belonging
to the other communities during the communal violence in C
Muzzafarnagar and adjacent districts. It is the assertion of the
petitioners in this petition that their homes were destroyed and
they were rendered homeless with no roof over their heads, they
lost their earnings and it has become difficult for them to take
care of their children and themselves.
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10.