The Balochistan government on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that it had paid a total of Rs 456.417 million to legal heirs of all those who fell victim to target killings, sectarian violence and bomb blasts from August 2006 to May 2011 on account of compensation.
A three-member SC bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Sair Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani, was hearing a petition filed by Balochistan High Court Bar Association (BHCBA) President Hadi Shakeel against the incidents of target killing and abduction for ransom in the province.
In pursuance of court’s earlier order, Balochistan Additional Advocate General Azam Khattak submitted a report in the court containing details of compensation given to the families of violence victims.
The report stated that legal heirs of 262 killed, families of 507 injured and 628 of civilians whose property had been damaged had been compensated by the provincial government so far.
It said Rs 215.55 million had been paid to the legal heirs of those killed and families of those police personnel who were injured from 2006 to March 2011. Rs 155.7 million had been paid to the legal heirs of 203 FC personnel killed in attacks and to those who were injured in the period starting from March 2006 to May 2011.
The court was informed that the provincial government was making all possible efforts to compensate victims of target killings. It was also informed that to ensure the payment to the legal heirs of victims of any target killing, terrorist incident, the provincial government had informed the victims about the compensation policy of the government of Balochistan through advertisement in all leading newspapers and they were asked to contact the deputy commissioner concerned for collection of the compensation.
During the hearing, the court directed the provincial government to collect information about 180 dead bodies found in Balochistan.
The chief justice directed Khattak to compensate the legal heirs, register cases and avoid open-handed FIRs in the matter and adjourned the hearing for three weeks.
The BHCBA president had filed the petition in the SC under Article 184(3) of the constitution, requesting the court to direct the Balochistan government to protect the life and property of the people of the province and take all steps, on account of which, target killings, and abductions be controlled.
