Srinagar, Aug 21, KDC: Nearly four decades after a young Kashmiri mechanic lost his life in a powerful bomb blast at Srinagar’s bustling exhibition ground, a local court has held the Jammu and Kashmir government responsible for failing to safeguard citizens and ordered it to compensate the victim’s family.
In a detailed 20-page judgment, a copy of which lies with Srinagar based news agency Kashmir Dot Com (KDC) 2nd Additional District Judge Swati Gupta directed the government to pay Rs 3.24 lakh, along with eight per cent annual interest from 1986, to the family of 22-year-old Avis Ahmed Shah, who died on October 14, 1985, a day after being critically injured in the Radha Theatre blast.
The court observed that state agencies cannot “shirk away” from their duty to provide foolproof security at public events, especially when the government itself charges entry fees from visitors. “Such reasoning on the part of the defendants projects a picture of helplessness and ineffectiveness,” the judge remarked.
The compensation claim was originally filed in 1986 by Shah’s father, Mohammad Yousuf Shah, who pursued the case for more than a decade before his death in 1998. His widow and children later substituted as plaintiffs, arguing that Avis, a skilled mechanic earning Rs 700–800 a month, was the family’s breadwinner.
While the government argued that the blast was a terrorist act carried out by a militant group and beyond its control, the court rejected the plea, holding that negligence by security agencies facilitated the tragedy.
Citing Article 21 of the Constitution and Supreme Court precedents, Judge Gupta ruled that the state had failed in its responsibility to protect citizens in public places. She further directed that if the government delays payment beyond two months, an additional four per cent interest would be levied.
“No amount of monetary help can ever truly compensate for the loss of a beloved one,” the judgment noted, acknowledging the family’s decades-long wait for justice. (KDC)
