Calcutta HC asks Bengal govt if it had paid compensation to

Calcutta High Court today asked the West Bengal government if it had paid compensation to the injured and rape victims in Nandigram as ordered by the court.

Admitting a writ petition by the injured and the rape victims, the two-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice S S Nijjar, directed the government to tell the court about the initiatives taken in this regard by the first week of August.

In November 2007, the court ordered the government to pay Rs five lakh each to the families of the people killed during the March 14, 2007, police firing incident, Rs two lakh to each rape victim and one lakh to the injured.

According to the petitioner, the government had only paid Rs five lakh to the relatives of 14 people so far killed in police firings on March 14, 2007.

The state government is, however, yet to pay compensation to the rape victims and the injured.

The prosecution said 164 people were injured in the incident and three women were raped in Nandigram during a series of incidents that followed the police firings.