The State has a duty to protect the life and liberty of its citizens and to provide adequate compensation to the victims of terrorist attacks.

S. D. Bajaj, J.

1. Punjab Istri Sabha through its President and Secretary has approached this Court in public interest litigation obtaining in C. W. P. No.4340 of 1986 filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for a writ of mandamus and or any other appropriate directions to the respondents to suitably enhance the quantum of compensation being paid to the families of victims of terrorist attacks in Punjab; to frame a uniform criteria for the grant of financial assistance to the next of kin of those killed by terrorists and also to award adequate assistance to those injured in such attacks resulting in temporary or permanent disability; to produce the record of a number of such families who have been rendered such financial assistance and the quantum of assistance given in each case by the respondents so far; and for the grant of such other relief which may be considered fit and proper in the circumstances of the case.

2. Relevant avernments made in the writ petition are "that for the last 2-3 years, a large number of innocent persons have been shot dead by terrorists in Punjab, In fact, hardly a day passes without some persons being killed with impunity. There have been some major incidents in which passengers from the buses have been taken out and brutally murdered, This killing spree by trigger-happy desperadoes has been going on unchecked, that the State Government has totally failed in its basic and primary function of protecting the life and property of its innocent citizens, that since maintenance of law and order and protecting the life and property of citizens is a State subject, the respondents cannot escape their responsibility for failing to perform their basic duty, resulting in the death of hundreds of innocent persons at the hands of terrorists and the families of the victims being deprived of their source of livelihood, that judging from any angle, the amount of compensation decided upon by the State for families of those killed in terrorist attacks is too meagre and wholly inadequate, and that the procedure being adopted for payment of such compensation is also cumbersome and entails delay.

3. Besides, respondent No.2 is discriminating between the employees of the police department and those belonging to other departments and there is no criteria laid down for determination of compensation- payable to the victimised families in accordance with their need and the earning capacity of the deceased member of the family.

4. A legal duty is cast upon the respondents to pay adequate compensation to the families of the victims of terrorists attacks in Punjab, to pay adequate compensation to those injured in such attacks and also to provide employment to one male member of the victimised families irrespective of whether the deceased was already in Government service or not. Due to the acute distress caused to a large number of the affected families in Punjab by the above mentioned policy decision of the State Government and this being a writ in the nature of public interest, it is a fit case where this Honble Court should intervene in exercise of its extra-ordinary writ jurisdiction and issue appropriate directions to the respondents as prayed. " Prayer clause reads :" it is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that the following reliefs may kindly be granted : (a) a writ of mandamus be issued to the respondents to place the full list and the particulars of the families of the victims of terrorist attacks to whom compensation has been paid so far alongwith the amount of compensation that has been disbursed, the date on which the victim was killed and the time taken to disburse the amount ; (b) a writ of mandamus be issued to the respondents to suitably enhance the amount of Rs.20,000/- to Rs. one lac per family or such amount as this Honble Court may consider to be commensurate with the present day economic condition so as to be on a par with the amount which would have been awarded to the dependents