PFI hartal violence: Kerala HC displeased with state government over delay in recovery process completion

The court expressed displeasure over the delay as the state government last month had assured to complete the recovery by January 15.

The court had in December last year too expressed displeasure over the delay in recovery proceedings.

The government had on November 7, 2022 told the court that a loss of Rs 86 lakh was incurred due to the damage to the property during the violence in the state-wide hartal in September last year.

The government had also submitted that a loss of Rs 16 lakh was suffered by private persons during the violence.

The State police have registered a total of 361 cases and arrested 2,674 people, it had said then.

Earlier, the High Court had asked the banned PFI and its ex-state general secretary Abdul Sathar to deposit Rs 5.2 crore with the home department towards damages estimated by the KSRTC and the state government in connection with the hartal-related violence saying they must be held accountable for it.

Sathar, when he was the state general secretary of the outfit, had called for the hartal against the nation-wide raids on PFI offices and arrests of its leaders, and then allegedly absconded.

Hours after the PFI was banned, he had issued a statement saying the outfit has been disbanded in the wake of the home ministry's decision and subsequently, he was arrested.