Have kin of 168 missing in 1992-93 Mumbai riots been given payout: SC

NEW DELHI: The SC on Tuesday refused to reopen cases against the 31 policemen acquitted by trial courts despite being severely indicted by the Srikrishna Commission for their alleged role in the 1992-93 Mumbai communal riots that claimed over 900 lives.
However, a bench of Justices Sanjay K Kaul, A S Oka and Vikram Nath asked the state government counsel Rahul Chitnis to specify in two weeks whether it has paid Rs 2 lakh compensation to the kin of 168 persons listed as missing since the riots in the status report filed by the state. Chitnis said that compensation of Rs 2 lakh to heirs of 900 victims have been paid. The bench said the kin of the 168 would be entitled to relief if their whereabouts were not known for seven years, that is by January 2000. It also asked Maharashtra to clarify if the 900 victims included the 168 missing persons.