AGRAWAL, CJ. — This writ petition is a public interest litigation initiated by Nathulal Jain, Advocate, practising in the Rajasthan High Court at Jaipur. He has claimed the following reliefs amongst others :

(i) to direct the State Government to pay a minimum compensation of Rs. two lacs per person in respect of all those persons who lost their lives during the course of riots which took place on 24.10.1990;

(ii) to direct the State Government to pay minimum compensation of Rs. 30,000/- to persons who suffered injuries in the nature of loss of any limb or organ depending upon the gravity of individual suffered or in accordance with the principles incorporated under the Railway Accidents "Compensation" Rules, 1990."

(2) A communal riot took place on 24.10.1990 during the Bandh sponsored by a national party in which wide spread violence broke out in different parts of Jaipur City. According to the petitioner 19 persons lost their lives and 150 were injured seriously. In addition to the aforesaid persons more than 200 shops had been looted or burnt totally and about 300 residential houses had been burnt partially.

(3) The petitioner claimed that according to the newspaper reports the arson, looting, injuries and deaths were attributable to total failure of the administration. The deployment of force was inadequate and that the administration failed to make any arrangement to prevent break out of communal riots which was well anticipated.

(4) On 25.10.1990 according to the reports published in Times of India, Jaipur Edition the District Collector announced ex- gratia payment of Rs. 5000/- each to the kins of the deceased and Rs. 1000/- each for the injured. This payment was subsequently increased by the State Government of which a list has been filed along with the writ petition.

(5) The petitioner claimed that compensation either to the families which lost one of its members during the communal violence or to the persons who were injured in different degrees had not been paid. He asserted that as the rules framed under the Railways Act, 1989, it provides immediate statutory compensation of Rs. two lacs for every citizen who lost his life during the course of accident irrespective of existence or otherwise of any neglect on the part of Railways, therefore taking the aforesaid amount as criteria the State Govt. should fix the compensation at that rate. The petitioner has further illustrated his claim by taking the figure announced by the State Government in the case of a riot which took place in Chittorgarh district in between Kanjar community on the one hand and another community on the other.

(6) The writ petition has been contested by the State Government. The argument advanced by the State was that it was not liable to pay compensation to the victims of the riot which arose in Jaipur and that the State Government had made all possible arrangements for prevention of the communal riots. Learned counsel for the State also alleged that Nathulal Jain, Advocate, was not entitled to get any mandamus for payment of compensation. It was asserted that the claim if any could be made by each individual separately by filing civil suit and that writ petition was not maintainable. The State contended that there could be no tortuous liability for acts of government servants while discharging their sovereign functions.

(7) I have heard learned counsel for the parties.

(8) Hindu-Muslim conflict became a regular feature of Indian life. This was the feature which troubled Mahatma Gandhi and many other political leaders of the national importance.

(9) In a letter to his friend Nehru poured out his heart, " I do not attach much importance to political squabbles, but the communal frenzy is awful to contemplate. We seem to have been caught in a whirlpool of mutual hatred and we go round and round and down and down this abyss." Nehru developed a hatred for religion and declared that religion has become like "the old man of the sea for us" ; it had not only "brok

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