New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought response from the Maharashtra government whether it has paid compensation to legal heirs of 168 people, who were on the missing list during the 1992-93 communal riots in Mumbai.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, A.S. Oka and Vikram Nath asked the state government to clarify what it meant by payment paid to heirs of victims and asked it to file an affidavit in 2 weeks. Taking into consideration a chart before it, the top court said 900 people had died in the violence and 168 persons have gone missing.

It also asked the state government to specify the time lapse between the incident and the payment of compensation, and whether 168 people, on the missing list, were included among the 900 identified victims.

The bench further queried the state government to bring on record whether any compensation was paid for the loss of property, and also specify the time lapse between the incident and the payment of compensation.

It said after completion of seven years, the families of people who have gone missing must get compensation. The apex court was hearing a batch of petitions in connection with the payment of compensation to the Mumbai riots victims.

A commission headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna, retired Supreme Court judge, which probed the Mumbai riots, had filed its report in 1998.

The apex court, in February 2020, had asked the Maharashtra government to apprise it on action taken against the police officers indicted by the commission.

The commission's report indicted leaders of some political parties and police officers. A lawyer, appearing for one of the petitioners before the top court pressed for the implementation of the recommendations made in the commission's report.