Rs 6,100 'too little' for huts burnt down in Kacharakanahalli: HC

The High Court has ordered enhancing the compensation to migrant workers whose huts in Kacharakanahalli, East Bengaluru, were burnt down by the owners of a function hall during the lockdown in May.

A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ashok S Kinagi noted that the Rs 6,100 compensation set by the state government was “extremely low”.

The owners of the function hall wanted to utilise the adjacent land on which the huts were built. But they could not do so because the migrant workers had built huts on it. After the lockdown was imposed, the workers went back to their hometowns, giving the owners of the function hall an opportunity to demolish the huts. They took the help of three other people and set the huts on fire. They also pulled down the huts located MRK Choultry and Tent House, next to Market Road, by using an earthmover, the Banaswadi subdivision police and the fire department told the court at the previous hearing.

The high court called the incident a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. “Prima facie it appears to us that for an act of violation of fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the destruction of (the) houses of poor people, (the) compensation is unreasonably low. The state government must reconsider the decision to pay only Rs 6,100. We make it clear that reconsideration shall be done within a period of two weeks,” the bench stated. It also directed the government to disburse the compensation of Rs 6,100 until it decides on raising it.

The government informed the court that around 170 families were affected by the destruction of the huts. Around 119 families came back and rebuilt their homes.