In October 2020, the high court directed the state government to consider Rotawan’s application and directed that its copy be forwarded to the chief secretary, saying “We will ask the chief secretary to consider your requests.” (File)One of the survivors and witnesses of the 26/11 terror attacks has moved the Bombay High Court after her application for government housing was rejected by the Maharashtra chief secretary.
In her application, 23- year-old Rotawan told the court that her family was unable to pay the rent for their room in a Subhash Nagar chawl in Mumbai’s Bandra East area, adding that because of several ailments, her father and brother could not work to earn a living.
Then nine years old, Rotawan reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus along with her father and brother to catch a train to Pune on November 26, 2008, when the terrorists struck. She was shot in the leg, underwent six surgeries within two months, and was bedridden for nearly six months. Presented as a witnesses in a local court, she identified Ajmal Kasab, who was the only attacker to be captured alive after the terror attack.
In October 2020, the high court directed the state government to consider Rotawan’s application and directed that its copy be forwarded to the chief secretary, saying “We will ask the chief secretary to consider your requests.”
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The court was then told that it was an “extraordinary case” and that after the attacks, several representatives of the central and state governments had visited the family’s room in the chawl and promised accommodation under the economically weaker section quota.
Her lawyer further submitted that Rotawan and her family had written several letters to the prime minister and the chief minister seeking relief but received no response. In the same year, she wrote to the chief secretary seeking accommodation under the quota.
As her petition came up for hearing before a bench of Justices S V Gangapurwala and M S Karnik on Thursday, additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan informed it that Rotawan had already been given Rs 13.26 lakh as compensation.
Appearing for the central government, advocate N R Bubna said that having received over Rs 10 lakh as compensation, there was nothing more she could demand as a matter of right. He also submitted that Rotawan had invoked a central government policy that came in force in 2017 and that it could not apply retrospectively to her demand for further compensation.
Since no one was present to represent Rotawan, the bench adjourned the hearing to October 12.
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First published on: 04-08-2022 at 05:29:09 pm