BENGALURU: The Union Government has decided to hand over two cases filed in connection with the Bengaluru riots to the National Investigation Agency, counsel for the central investigative agency informed the Karnataka High Court on Friday.The counsel made the submission before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S Kinagi, which was hearing a batch of PILs filed over the violence in DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations on August 11. Over 70 FIRs were filed in all, and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was invoked in two cases.
The State government had already informed the high court that in accordance with procedure, it had written to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs regarding the two cases in which the UAPA had been invoked, and was awaiting a response from the Centre. NIA counsel Prasanna Kumar then said that it had received oral communication from the Union government on the decision to hand over two cases — one registered at DJ Halli police station and the other at KG Halli police station — to the NIA, and that written orders were awaited.
Advocate General Prabhuling K Navadgi informed the court that the State government had complied with the court’s order dated September 5, by appointing former High Court judge Justice H S Kempanna as claims commissioner. He will assess the damage to property, investigate liability and submit a report to the court recommending compensation to victims who incurred losses in the vandalism and arson carried out by rioters. A nodal officer was also appointed on September 7 to coordinate with the claims commissioner and make facilities available in terms of orders passed by the court, the court was told.