ORDER

1.We have gone through the writ petitions, other pleadings and documents filed along with orders made by this Court from time to time. Having heard the learned counsel on all sides in these two petitions, we are of the view that at this stage it would be appropriate to direct the constitution of an authority to enquire into and deal with the claims that arise in respect of the affected persons in the riots that took place between December 1991 and January 1992 as an offshoot of the Cauvery water dispute between the States of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. We have formulated a scheme for composition of the Authority, the manner in which the claim applications have to be invited, received and dealt with. The Scheme in details is set forth as follows :

"Scheme

I. Composition of the Authority  and its sittings

An authority called Cauvery Riots Relief Authority (CARRA) would be constituted by the State of Karnataka comprising of three retired District Judges, one of whom will be the Chairman on or before 15-5-1999.

2. The Government of Karnataka may appoint such other retired District Judges as members of the Authority if the volume of work and exigencies so required and if so recommended by the Authority.

3. The Authority will have its Headquarters at Bangalore and may hold its sittings at any place in the affected areas.

4. The Authority, will be provided with necessary infrastructure by the Government of Karnataka including ministerial, secretarial and investigative staff/agencies as may be required by the Authority.

5. The remuneration of the members of the Authority shall be fixed by the Government of Karnataka.

6. The Authority shall function under the orders of this Court passed from time to time.

II. Claims

7. The Authority shall invite claims from all persons affected in the riots that took place in December 1991 and January 1992 in connection with Cauvery water dispute including those who have been paid reliefs/compensation by the State of Karnataka:

Provided, however, in computing the compensation which the Authority may decide to be paid to any claimant, any sums already paid by way of relief/compensation shall be given due credit.

8. Any claim before the Authority for relief which may become payable by the State of Tamil Nadu on account of the incident having taken place in Tamil Nadu such claims shall be forwarded to the Secretary, Public Department, Government of Tamil Nadu for necessary action.

III. Claim applications

9. The Authority will invite claims from the affected persons by issuing public notice in widely circulated newspapers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and by any other media within one month from the date of its constitution.

10. The notice shall be published in English and other vernacular languages including Tamil and Kannada as may be necessary and decided by the Authority.

11. The format of the claim application shall be prescribed by the Authority and the public notice shall incorporate the said format.

12. The notice shall also indicate that the intending claimants may submit their claims either in person or through registered post or through Legal Aid Services Committee or through their counsel.

13. The notice will also indicate the time within which the claims should be submitted in any case, not exceeding 45 days from the date of last publication of the notice.

IV. The procedure

14. The Authority shall lay down its own procedure for receipt, enquiry and disposal of the claim applications. The Authority may engage assistance of such agencies, bodies, persons as may be deemed necessary including the police and other governmental agencies.

15. The Chairman of the Authority may assign such number of claims as he may deem necessary to individual members including himself for the scrutiny, enquiry, hearing and report. For this purpose, the individual members including the Chairman may hold sittings at such affected places singly according to the requirement of the situation.

16. The final decision of the Authority sha