Title - Supreme Court mulls making Haryana compensate Railways

New Delhi : The Supreme Court today mooted the idea of holding state governments and political parties accountable for the damage caused to property during rail and road blockades.While the state governments should be asked to first pay for the damage caused to property and then recover it from the sponsors of such agitations, the political parties initiating or sponsoring such violent stirs could be derecognised, a Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya said.The Bench expressed the opinion during the hearing of PILs relating to agitations in Haryana, UP and Manipur. According to the Railways, its property worth Rs 33.95 crore was damaged during the agitation by Jats in Haryana in January, 2011, in connection with the developments over the anti-Dalit violence at Mirchpur in April, 2010.“Should we ask the state government to pay Rs 33 crore to the Railways and then recover the money from the sponsors of the agitation,” the Bench asked Solicitor-General (SG) Rohinton Nariman.The Bench also asked the SG to give his opinion on the feasibility of the judiciary recommending to the Election Commission for derecognising political parties which persisted with resorting to violent stirs.Making the sponsors pay for the damage would be a great deterrent. Further, “the government should set an example. Courts can’t do it,” the Bench explained.