Bengaluru Riots: Justice H S Kempanna is Claims Commissioner, says CM B S Yediyurappa

Retired High Court Justice H S Kempanna has been appointed as the Claims Commissioner to assess the damages caused to public and private properties during the recent Bengaluru riots, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said Friday.

This follows the state government’s decision to recover the losses to damaged properties from the rioters.

“Our Govt approached Hon'ble High Court to appoint Claims Commissioner to assess the damages caused to public & private properties during riots in KJ Halli & DJ Halli, Bengaluru. Today, Hon'ble HC appointed Justice HS Kempanna (Retd) as Claims Commissioner,” Yediyurappa said in a tweet.

On August 11, a mob ran amok in DJ Halli, KG Halli and Kaval Byrasandra allegedly because of an inflammatory social media post on Prophet Mohammed. In the rioting, Congress’ Pulakeshinagar MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s house was gutted and police stations among other public properties were vandalized.

In its petition to the High Court, the state government quoted a 2009 Supreme Court order stating that in cases of mass destruction of private and public property and injury to persons due to protests and riots, the HC may issue suo motu action and appoint a claims commissioner to investigate the damage caused and award compensation by affixing liability on the perpetrators.

The state in its petition included Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant's report that said 64 criminal cases were registered in connection with the riots. It further stated 33 government vehicles and 109 private vehicles were completely burnt or extensively damaged. Significant damage has been caused to the DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations and also the residence of MLA Murthy. In addition, eight private buildings were also damaged and arms and ammunition used by the police were destroyed by the mob.