Tandon gets HC notice

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court today issued notice to senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon on the saree distribution case and direc...

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court today issued notice to senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon on the saree distribution case and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the families of the 22 women killed in the stampede.

The division bench comprising Justice Vishnu Sahay and Justice G.K. Gupta while hearing a public interest petition filed in this connection directed the government to complete the ongoing commissioner-level inquiry into the case within three weeks time.

The court issued notices to Tandon and Brijendra Murai Yadav, a function organiser against whom a bribery case has been registered on the orders of the Election Commission and fixed may 11 as the next date of hearing.

Story continues below this ad

The notices were issued on the plea of the petitioner that both should also be asked to pay compensation to the victims.

The court asked the government to pay the raised compensation amount of Rs 2 lakh to the families of each of the victims within a week after state Advocate General Virendra Bhatia told the court that the compensation amount could be hiked as an interim measure on the instructions of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

However, there is no change in the amount to be paid to those injured in the incident. In its order, the court mentioned that the Advocate General has stated that Tandon and Yadav had not sought permission from the district magistrate and senior superintendent of police before organising the birthday function.