The Hindu : Hartal: mechanism to recover damages

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 18, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Hartal: mechanism to recover damages

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 17. The State Government has set up an institutional mechanism to recover damages from persons or outfits organising bandhs, hartals and agitations in the event of destruction and harm to property of the State or that of State-owned corporations during such actions.

The new mechanism requires any organisation or person, as the case may be, to give an undertaking, while applying for permission to conduct such agitations, that no damage would be caused to public property and that they would compensate for any such damage

The institutional mechanism puts the onus on the heads of office of the various departments and chief executives of corporations to initiate legal proceedings through civil suits on the basis of the police investigations. It also lists out the monitoring process each official is required to make

when the case is pending. Agitations, processions or public meetings, by whatever name they are called, where cessation of normal business and public activities are enforced implicitly or explicitly, will be brought under the purview of the institutional mechanism. Other agitations, either with less severity or coverage, but leading to destruction of public property will also be covered under this mechanism.

The institutional mechanism would cover property movable or immovable (including machinery) owned by or in the possession of/or under the control of the Central Government, State Government, any local authority, any institution or body established by or under a Central or State legislation or any company under the Companies Act or any autonomous body or organisation wholly controlled by the State or Central Governments.

The head of office would have the primary responsibility for taking action to claim compensation for the property damaged during and as a result of such agitations. In the case of public

undertakings, the head of office or the chief executive officer shall take the necessary steps to file the suit for recovery of damages.

Such suits shall be filed before the civil court of competent jurisdiction within a month of the occurrence of such an incident. Any lapse on the part of the official in initiating action for claiming damages would be viewed seriously.

As soon as the damage is reported, the head of office shall, without any loss of time, lodge a complaint with the SHO of the police station having jurisdiction over the area where the damage has taken place.

On receipt of such a complaint, the SHO shall duly register the case and furnish a report to the head of office or CEO concerned with copies of `mahazar', regarding the involvement of persons responsible for the damage.

The head of office is required to file a suit for the recovery of damages on the basis of the SHO's report within a month of the date of causing damage to public property.

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